


May I Have This Dance?

by nicoleterc20



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:22:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 36,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29335992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicoleterc20/pseuds/nicoleterc20
Summary: "Would you like to dance?" Neville asked, suddenly more nervous than he had been in a long time. Thea nodded and he took her hand, guiding her to the dance floor. They stood there for a minute awkwardly, before he stepped closer, closing the gap between them. She looked up at him, his beautiful green eyes focused on her. Even with her heels on, she was so much shorter than him. He reached his left arm out towards her waist.





	1. The Beginning

"Theadora!" came an exasperated shout from downstairs in the kitchen. Thea huffed in annoyance and stood from her desk, opening the door of her bedroom and hustling downstairs. 

She never understood why her mom felt the need to constantly use her full name. It drove her nuts.

"What, mum?" she said irritably as she reached the kitchen doorway. A manila envelope lay on the table, bright mahogany writing layered elegantly on the surface. 

A bundle of orange and purple birthday balloons, Thea's favorite colors, floated listlessly beside. Thea's mother beamed, and a smile broke out on Thea's own face.

"No way! My letter!" Thea cried, lunging towards the table and picking up the small envelope. She had nearly forgotten what an 11th birthday in the wizarding world meant. The parchment felt rough on her skin, and a jolt of electricity shot through her fingertips. In a fancy-lettered scroll, there read:

Ms. T Bassitt, 121 Church Street, Stockport, Greater Manchester

Thea squealed with delight and opened the envelope, carefully trying not to rip the gorgeous lettering. She knew her mother would want to save it for her memory book. Thea's mother walked to her side of the table and put her hands on Thea's shoulders and smiled. 

Inside, folded neatly into four small squares, was what she had been waiting for all her life.

"We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" Thea read aloud, her mother's soft hands squeezing her shoulders in excitement. "Term begins on the first of September. Attached is a list of required texts and additional items!" Thea squealed with delight, smiling from ear to ear at the news.

"Oh, sweetie, this is so exciting! Happy birthday, baby!" Thea's mother exclaimed in her ear. Thea turned to hug her mother, but hesitated at the sight of tears in her eyes. 

They exchanged a look of understanding, and Thea wrapped comforting arms around her mother's middle.

"Oh, Theadora, I'm so happy. You're growing up so fast!" her mother said, allowing a few plump tears to slide down her cheeks. "I remember receiving my own letter like it was just yesterday. How time flies..." She trailed off, a mixture of pride and sadness written on her face.

"I know it's hard, mum, but it's exciting! I can finally start learning all the magic I've been dying to try!" Thea said happily in an attempt to lift her mother's spirits. 

Ever since she was a baby, Thea had been fascinated by her parents' magical abilities. From cooking without touching a single pot, to making random household items levitate, Thea had been obsessed with watching magic happen. She had always dreamed of turning 11 so she could start learning these tricks for her own use.

"What's all the commotion in here? I can hear you both yelling from all the way in the shed!" came a calming voice through the doorway to the backyard. Thea's dad popped his head into the kitchen, his mop of dark hair hanging messily over his forehead.

"I got my letter!" Thea yelled happily, sauntering across the kitchen to show her father. Thea's father wiped his hands on his shirt and adjusted his glasses dramatically, making both Thea and her mother giggle, before taking the letter from her hands to read for himself. 

A grin quickly spread from ear to ear as his eyes swiped the page. He threw the paper up with a loud "YAHOOOO!!!" and picked Thea up, twirling her around in the air excitedly. Any sadness felt before was long gone. Thea's father also had tears in his eyes, putting Thea down and strutting over to hug his adoring wife.

"Oh, I am so unbelievably proud! I'm assuming this means a family trip to Diagon Alley tomorrow morning for some shopping?" Thea's father said, earning a wink and a nod from his wife. Thea squealed with delight. She had been to Diagon Alley a couple times before, but now that she was going for herself made it all the more exciting. 

Dozens of thoughts flew through her mind as she ran to her room to read her acceptance letter one more time. She thought about how her Hogwarts robes would look against her tanned skin, what kind of wand she would get, and how interesting her textbooks would be. 

Her biggest question, however, was what House she would be sorted into. 

Coming from a Hufflepuff father and a Ravenclaw mother, Thea knew all about the different houses at Hogwarts. Over the years, she had been told countless stories of the Hogwarts houses and what they each represented. 

She would love to be a Ravenclaw because she prides herself on her intelligence and creativity. However, she knew she would be happy in any house, because it meant her dream of going to Hogwarts was coming true. Thea's mom knocked lightly on the doorframe suddenly, distracting Thea from her thoughts.

"Your special dinner will be ready in about 20 minutes, so come down to set the table when you can please." she requested sweetly. She turned her body towards the stairs as if to leave but hesitated for just a moment, and turned back to Thea and leaned against the doorframe.

"Tomorrow is going to be such a great day." She smiled, reminiscing on fond memories of her first time shopping in Diagon Alley. "We'll Floo over at about 8:00 so we can beat the crowds, got it?"

"Perfect, mum." Thea responded, opening her closet door and looking through her clothes. She wanted to pick the perfect shopping outfit for her big day. 

After sitting through her birthday dinner of her favourite Shepherd's Pie, and a huge red velvet cake for dessert, Thea got ready for bed excitedly. 

She was proud to be a witch, and she couldn't wait to start this adventure tomorrow. 

As Thea crawled into bed and switched off the lamp beside her, she closed her eyes and dreamed of the life she was about to start in the morning.


	2. Diagon Alley

Thea awoke with a start the following morning, groaning as she tried to switch off her alarm. The mini winged clock jumped up and buzzed around the room in anticipation, the ringing growing louder and louder the longer it screamed. 

This was one of the very few instances of magic that angered Thea, seeing as how she had to hysterically jump out of bed and run around frantically to catch the clock. 

She finally managed to wrap her hand around it and shut it off, wallowing in the sudden quiet for a few seconds as her eyes adjusted to the light. 

Thea smiled to herself as she remembered the plans for the day, and flew through her morning routine of getting dressed, eating breakfast, and washing up in record time. She nearly bounced around the sitting room trying to put her shoes on.

"Looks like someone's ready to get going!" Thea's dad said teasingly, sitting beside her to put his own trainers on. Thea giggled and stood up, adjusting her hair and her shorts so that they were perfect.

"Well, I'm just excited! You know how long I've been waiting to buy my school stuff!" she said, walking to the kitchen to grab her bag from the table. Thea's dad followed suit, adjusting his wand in his pants pocket as Thea's mom rushed into the kitchen.

"Alright you two, by the fireplace please. We should have left already." she said in a frustrated voice. They were only about 20 minutes behind schedule, but Thea knew how busy it can get at Diagon Alley, and just how quickly it fills up. 

Her dad went first, hunching his tall frame to fit in the fireplace. He grabbed a handful of Floo powder, called out his destination, and was off in a haze of green smoke. 

Thea hardly got to travel by Floo, so she couldn't contain her excitement as she stepped into the fireplace, holding her mum's hand. She watched her mom throw the powder, call out for Diagon Alley and they were off. 

Thea held tight to her mother's arm as her living room faded away into darkness, feeling dizzy and like she was floating and falling all at the same time. After a couple moments, she felt her feet hit solid ground and opened her eyes slowly. 

Thea and her mother emerged from the Floo entrance and stood inside the Magical Menagerie, the most wonderful pet shop in the world. 

From every corner of the shop there came a noise of some sort, and it was music to Thea's ears. She loved animals dearly, and getting to see and hear all these wonderful creatures made her morning even better. 

As she moved along through the store with her mother to find her dad, Thea's attention was drawn to a certain perch near the back of the store.

"Ooh, Mum, can I please get this owl?" Thea pleaded, darting over to where she had spotted a gorgeous, chestnut brown owl with golden eyes. She couldn't help but feel drawn to it. "Hi, beautiful." She whispered to the owl, gently petting down its soft feathers. 

The owl's beak twitched momentarily, then looked up at her with its gorgeous eyes, and Thea's heart absolutely melted.

"Of course, dear, you know you're going to need an owl anyway. Just don't forget to get everything we need for him before we head to the next stop." Thea's mother said, looking around for a sturdy cage and some simple owl treats. 

Thea smiled brightly and watched as the shop worker put the owl in a roomy cage and handed it to her, her parents presenting 2 Galleons in exchange.

"I think I'll name you Aurora." Thea said softly to the owl, thinking of her favorite princess from the Muggle stories she read when she was younger. "You're beautiful, just like her." 

Thea followed her parents, carefully holding her new pet, and out they went to the beautiful streets of Diagon Alley. 

Thea's breath hitched at the colors, sights, and sounds all around her. Her face felt warm in the late August sun as she looked up at the magnificent buildings around her. There were robe shops, bookstores, toy stores, broom workshops - everything Thea could dream of as a young and eager witch. 

The streets were lined with witches and wizards, many of them her age or older out picking up their own school supplies. 

Up ahead, she saw a rather large family of bright redheads leaving the used book shop, and just across the way she saw a mother and son heading into Gringotts Bank. Thea just got more excited thinking of who she could meet on her first day at Hogwarts.

"Alright, Thea, next stop is to Mr. Ollivander's!" Thea's father exclaimed, guiding his wife and daughter to the beautiful wand shop at the center of Diagon Alley. Thea felt her heart begin to race. 

Receiving her very first wand was something she had been looking forward to for as long as she could remember. 

As they stepped into the shop they were greeted by a tall man with wiry white hair and deep age lines in his face. He smiled warmly at the three, and welcomed them in with open arms. Thea wandered off, looking excitedly around at the dazzling array of wands around her. 

Every wall of the shop was completely lined, top to bottom, side to side, with wands for all witches and wizards. She didn't know exactly how many there were, but her guess was definitely in the thousands.

"Hello, dear." said a kind voice from behind. Thea turned and saw the man from the front, his hand outstretched and waiting for hers. She took it and shook gently. "I am Mr. Ollivander, of course."

"Thea Bassit." she replied quietly. Mr. Ollivander smiled and led her to the first wall of wands on her right.

"Let's see what we can find here for you." he said, gesturing towards the wall. He examined Thea quizzically for a moment, then turned and climbed halfway up a rolling ladder, returning with a slim, emerald green box. Thea's eyes widened as he pulled the wand from its casing. She had seen her parents' wands up close many times, but it was nothing like this moment. 

Mr. Ollivander held the wand out to Thea and she took it hesitantly. She waited and....nothing. She furrowed her brow and looked back at Mr. Ollivander. "Hmm. Not quite. Ah! One moment, please." He said, mostly to himself. 

He turned again, but walked to the complete other side of the store, bending and choosing a box that was nearly at the bottom. He moved quite eccentrically, making Thea giggle. He pulled the wand from the box slowly as he strode back over to Thea and handed it to her. 

The wand was a gorgeous mahogany color with a wide black handle at the base. Thea took the wand and instantly felt a warmth spread slowly into her hand, up her arm, and down the rest of her body. Her fingertips vibrated around the wand handle, catching her off guard. Beautiful purple sparks started pouring from the tip wildly.

"Wow..." Thea whispered, shock and excitement coursing through her veins.

"Oh, Thea, that's the one!" her father exclaimed, his hands on her shoulders, shaking her. Thea hadn't noticed her parents had moved over to her, but she smiled up at him as Mr. Ollivander took the wand from her hands to examine it.

"Yes, beautiful. 11 and one quarter inches, Cherry wood, slight flexibility with a dragon heartstring core. Very powerful, but very smart wand." Mr. Ollivander said as he placed it back in the box and brought it to the register. "Be mindful of its power, dear, and take care of it as well as you possibly can."

"I will, I promise." Thea stated, taking her new wand from his hands and placing it safely in her purse. That feeling of holding her wand for the first time is something she would never forget. 

Thea and her parents thanked Mr. Ollivander, Thea profusely, before leaving and heading over to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Once again, Thea couldn't contain her excitement as they walked into the shop, seeing all the different fabrics, colors, and patterns everywhere.

"Hello there!" Madam Malkin greeted, walking over to the family. "You must be a first year, then?" She asked, taking in Thea's small figure and young face.

"Yes, ma'am." Thea blushed. Madam Malkin smiled and took her hand, leading her to a small changing area. Thea stepped up onto the small platform, gazing through the kaleidoscopic mirrors surrounding her. 

She watched as Madam Malkin whipped a measuring tape out of thin air and began taking Thea's measurements. Beside her head, a quill wrote profusely, keeping track of everything Madam Malkin needed to make Thea's robes. Thea took in her surroundings, looking at all the different kids looking to buy robes to take to their new school.

"Follow me, dear." Madam Malkin said, turning towards the back of the store. Thea followed excitedly, stopping behind the indicated yellow line. Madam Malkin kept walking and turned the corner, and Thea could see clouds of pink and orange smoke, accompanied by some strange noises, before Madam Malkin reappeared with a set of robes draped over her arm. Thea's heart rate increased as she saw the beautiful Hogwarts logo on the chest.

"Alright, let's see how these fit." Madam Malkin said as she handed Thea a pair of the soft robes. Thea slipped them over her head and watched as they fell softly over her body. The robes stopped perfectly above her feet so she wouldn't trip, and the length of the arms was also just right. Thea smiled up at Madam Malkin, letting her know she appreciated the perfection.

"Look at how grown up you look!" Thea's mother said, tears welling up in her dark brown eyes once again. Thea rolled her own hazel ones, but smiled warmly at her mom. 

Her dad pretended to dramatically snap a photo of Thea using a Muggle camera, which made everyone laugh, and Thea removed the robes so she wouldn't dirty them.

"How much?" Thea's father asked, reaching his arm behind his back to grab his coin wallet.

"Four Galleons, dear."

"Wow. Forgot how expensive school supplies can be." Thea's father chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "But I only want the best for my kid, so no harm done." He said, handing Madam Malkin four large gold coins. 

Thea's face twisted slightly. Her wand had already cost her parents 7 Galleons, not to mention she had already gotten an owl and still needed to buy her textbooks. Money wasn't necessarily an issue for her family, but it didn't mean Thea wanted her parents to spend that much money on her.

"Dad, we don't have to get new ones, it's alright." she said, hoping her father would listen. Stubborn as he was, he waved her off.

"There's only one of you, Thea. Whatever is the best for you is what we're always going to do. How many times have I told you not to worry about money?" Her dad responded, pulling her to his side and kissing the top of her head. Thea fought the urge to argue back, but remained silent. 

She took the bag with the new robes and thanked Madam Malkin, before heading out the door with her parents. After a couple more hours of walking, talking, and shopping, Thea had everything she needed for her upcoming trip to Hogwarts. She couldn't wait to start reading her Herbology textbook as she flipped through pages of information and fascinating pictures.

"Theadora, please. It's getting late and we need to head home." her mother said, slightly exasperated. Thea hadn't realized how long her parents had been sitting at the cafe table waiting for her to stop reading. She blushed slightly and packed the book back up, apologizing to her mother. 

They headed back to the Menagerie and quickly Floo'd home. Thea groaned as she removed her shoes, the long day having worn her feet down. She smiled to herself as she looked around at her new school items waiting to be unpacked and used. Going to Hogwarts was going to be the best experience of her life, and she couldn't wait for it.


	3. Hogwarts Begins

**One Week Later

"Mum, hurry UP!" Thea yelled, unsuccessfully attempting to pull her massive school trunk off the floor. She had spent the majority of the last week neatly packing away all her items into the required trunk. 

She had her cauldron, textbooks, and quill and ink set stacked neatly on the right hand side. The rest of the room in the trunk was taken up by robes, clothes, shoes, and her favourite books. Thea had lots of belongings and did not pack light.

"You know you're just going to school, not moving to another continent, right?" her father said with a groan as he lifted the trunk and began to pull it out of the room and down the stairs. Thea gave him a look of apology and followed close behind, Aurora's cage held firmly in her hand. 

Last night before bed, Thea had double and triple checked her packing list, making sure she left nothing behind. Her nerves about Hogwarts had reached an all-time high, and she hadn't slept a wink the last three nights. She wanted everything to go smoothly. 

Thea and her father reached the kitchen and saw her mother leaning against the oven, chewing nervously on her nails.

"Mum. It's alright. We'll make it on time, and I'll be fine." Thea said reassuringly, grabbing her mother's hand.

"I know, sweetie. It's just going to be hard to see you go."

"I'll write to you every week. I promise."

"Alright, enough tears. We need to get going now." Thea's dad said after a long silence, shooing Thea and her mother towards the front door. She turned to look at the house one last time.

"See you at Christmas." she said sadly, before turning and following her father out the door.

* * *

The last time Thea had been inside King's Cross Station was nearly 3 years ago when her aunt and uncle had come from Paris to visit. She took in the building around her, the tall ceilings standing menacingly above her. Bright sunlight flooded through the glass windows, warming her skin and comforting her. 

Thea was most nervous about this part of the journey. She had never been on a train by herself before, and she was nervous about crossing to Platform 9¾. 

She looked up at her parents as they walked on either side of her, her dad pushing the trolley with her trunk and Aurora's cage on it. They walked in silence until they reached platforms 9 and 10.

"Alright, sweetie, dad's going to go first, and then we'll go together." her mom said, looking around to make sure the area was empty. 

Thea's dad nodded, surveyed the area quickly, then started jogging forwards with the cart in his hand. He started to pick up speed as he approached the brick wall. 

At his fastest point, he closed the gap between himself and the wall....and then he was gone. Thea gasped, never seeing anything like that before in her life. She was almost certain he was just going to run into the bricks and give himself a concussion.

"Okay, let's go." her mother said after waiting a few minutes for some Muggles to pass them. Thea took her mother's hand and they started jogging. They picked up their speed and Thea braced herself for the impact. She ran and jumped, and suddenly, there it was. The Hogwarts Express. 

Thea's eyes widened in astonishment at the beautiful locomotive standing before her. The train stood tall at the platform, red paint sparkling under the smoke from the exhaust. All around her, Thea could see witch and wizard families attempting to get their kids on the train before it took off for Hogwarts. 

She saw lots of kids her age hugging their parents goodbye, then turning to run onto the train in hopes of finding a good window seat. Older kids were hugging their parents and getting on slower, but there was still an air of excitement about them.

"You okay, Thea?" her father asked sweetly, squeezing the top of her arm comfortingly.

"Yea, just nervous." Thea said, meeting his eyes. "I'm going to miss you guys." She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. Hogwarts has been a lifelong dream of hers, and she was happy to be going, but Thea completely forgot how far she would be from her parents. 

She had never spent a night away from them, and the reality was setting in as she watched kid after kid board the train. Thea's mother knelt down in front of her so they were standing eye to eye.

"You're going to be okay, got it? You're a smart, brave girl, and you're going to have so much fun at school." her mother said, hugging her tightly. 

"You cannot let the fear of being away from us hold you back from succeeding. You can send us an owl whenever you miss us, and we'll be seeing you at Christmas break, before you know it." 

Thea looked in her mother's eyes as tears fell from her own. She took a deep breath and smiled, hugging her mother once more, then her father tightly. She turned and looked at the train, and smiled.

"Okay, well, bye then. I love you both so much." Thea's father packed her trunk in the storage compartment, then she kissed them both and made her way to the stairs. 

As she climbed up, holding her backpack and her owl's cage, she turned for one last wave goodbye, then made her way onto the train. 

The first thing that hit Thea was the noise. Every single seat in the car was packed with first years writhing with anticipation for their first ever trip to Hogwarts. As she walked down the aisle of the car, she took in her surroundings, looking for an empty seat. 

She felt as if she was in a trance seeing all the kids with their brand new Hogwarts robes and hearing them all laugh and scream with excitement. 

It was only until she bumped into the person in front of her that she fell back to reality.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" she asked the boy whom she bumped into. He turned and Thea was looking into the green eyes of a very frightened looking boy. His round cheeks tinged pink as he looked back at her.

"Sorry about that. I've lost my toad and I'm afraid I've dropped him on the platform." the boy said, turning every which way in search of his pet. "Have you seen him?"

"No, I'm sorry, but I can keep an eye out for him." Thea said, smiling comfortingly at the boy. "I'm Thea, by the way. First year." The boy smiled back nervously, avoiding her eyes.

"Neville Longbottom." he said quietly. "Well, it was nice to meet you. I'll see you at the school." Neville said quickly, sitting down in the seat behind him and staring down at his hands. Thea giggled. He's cute, she thought to herself. 

Continuing down the aisle, Thea found a compartment with two boys sitting alone, and turned through the door.

"Hello! Mind if I sit here?" she asked, awkwardly looking between the two. The boy on the right, who had flaming red hair, nodded and smiled. She sat next to him and shook the hand he had offered.

"Ron Weasley!" he said happily. "And that right there is Harry Potter." Thea's eyes widened as she looked at the boy on the other side of the compartment for the first time. She felt her palms start to sweat at her sides. 

This had to be a joke, right? No way was the one and only Harry Potter sitting across from her, on the same train as her, heading to the same school as her!? Everyone, and that means everyone, in the Wizarding World knows who Harry Potter is.

"No way!" Thea said, leaning over to shake Harry's hand as well. "So great to meet you, Harry". Harry blushed as he shook her hand, his bright green eyes looking into hers. "Sorry, I don't want to make you uncomfortable or anything. You're just a legend, you know?" Harry blushed darker.

"Yea, I guess..."

"I'm Thea, by the way. Thea Bassitt." She smiled at the two boys, hoping that these would be the first friends she would ever make at Hogwarts.

"So, what's your story?" Ron asked, looking at Thea quizzingly.

"Not really much to tell, I guess. I'm an only child. I think I may have seen you at Diagon Alley a week ago." Thea responded, remembering the large redheaded family she had seen shopping. Ron nodded, explaining that he has a lot of siblings. 

From the end of the compartment, there was the sound of footsteps approaching the entrance. A girl with wild brown hair, already wearing her Hogwarts robes, was standing in the doorway.

"Have any of you seen a toad?" she asked, looking at each of them. Harry and Ron looked at each other and shrugged.

"You mean the one that belongs to that Longbottom boy?" Thea asked, blushing as she remembered the awkward bump she had with him earlier. The girl nodded.

"He's seemed to have lost his pet, and I thought it would be nice if we could find it." she said matter-of-factly. Thea, Ron, and Harry shook their heads. The girl huffed and sat down beside Harry, looking tired already.

"I'm Hermione Granger, First Year at Hogwarts. Pleasure to meet you all." she said, shaking all three of their hands. They each introduced themselves, Hermione barely flinching as Harry was introduced. 

The foursome engaged in light conversation as they felt the train lurch forward, and the journey to Hogwarts had finally begun.

* * *

Thea and her three new friends peered excitedly out the window as they watched the gorgeous Hogwarts castle soar into view. Night had already fallen, and the train was only moments away from pulling into the station of their new home.

"We should prepare to exit the train quickly and avoid the crowds." Hermione said. She was very mature for her age, and Thea quite admired it. 

The train began to slow as they stood, collecting their belongings and making their way back into the aisle of the car. 

Thea, Ron, and Harry had pulled their robes on halfway through the journey, admiring how they looked in them. Thea noticed that Ron's robes were slightly worn, so she tried as hard as she could to direct the conversation away from that. 

As the train halted to a stop, Thea felt her legs burn with anticipation. She wanted nothing more than to run past everyone and be the first one off the train. 

As the first years filed out of the train one by one, Thea saw a very large man standing on the platform, waving a lantern. She felt a bit scared seeing him, if she was being honest. He was more than double the size of a regular human being, with bushy black hair and a matching beard. 

His gruff voice was calling out for all the first years to follow him and Thea nearly froze in her spot.

"That's Hagrid." Harry said, noticing how scared she was. "He's the Gamekeeper here. I met him on my birthday this summer. He looks scary at first, but he's really the sweetest person you'll ever meet." Thea smiled weakly at him, not fully convinced, but followed her new friend towards Hagrid anyway.

"Alrigh' first years." Hagrid yelled, his loud voice echoing through the dark night sky. "Follow me, then. We'll be goin' down the Black Lake in these here boats." 

Thea, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked together to their own boat, each one hesitantly climbing in and sitting down. 

Before their eyes, the boats came to life and started gliding across the dark waters. Thea looked all around her in wonder. The sky was littered with twinkling stars, and the outline of the castle loomed tall in the darkness. 

She looked to her companions and saw they were all doing the same. 

Nothing could have prepared Thea for this moment. It was everything she could have dreamed of. Once the boats all reached the shores, the first years began the long trek up to the front doors of the school.

"Alright, children, two lines of single file please." Thea heard a high-pitched voice say as they reached the end of their climb. They all approached the door to see an older woman waiting, holding a rolled piece of parchment and a quill. 

She was wearing long, black robes and a matching pointed hat, and she eyed each student as they formed some sort of a line. 

"I am Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House and Professor of Transfiguration. When I give you the go-ahead, you will walk single file into the Great Hall and prepare for the Sorting." 

Thea looked up and saw Ron standing next to her, looking over with a giddy look on his face. She could tell he was just as excited as she was. 

The first years were guided into the Great Hall and Thea felt incredibly intimidated. Every single upper year student was watching the new first years like hawks watching their prey. 

Thea could see four long tables placed in the hall, and she knew right away that they were the House tables. The first years were taken to stand in a gaggle in front of the podium standing above, and Thea saw an older man with long white hair and a long white beard standing before them. 

He wore floor length silver robes, with half-moon glasses perched at the tip of his nose. He looked around and examined all the new students for the year.

"That's Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster." Hermione whispered in her ear. Professor Dumbledore stood at the podium, holding out his arms, and the noise in the Hall immediately died down.

"Welcome back, students of Hogwarts, to another exciting school term." His voice boomed through the hall, catching Thea off guard. She took in her surroundings, feeling nervous and excited all at the same time. 

She gasped quietly as she saw the ceiling completely illuminated with bright stars against a nearly black sky.

"The ceiling's bewitched." came Hermione's voice once again from Thea's side. "It's meant to replicate the exact weather outside." Thea wondered how Hermione knew all this, but she was glad she had a knowledgeable friend by her side. Dumbledore raised his arms to speak once again.

"Before we enjoy our meal of welcome, let us engage in the Sorting!" He gestured beside him and every eye turned to a stool in the center of the stage, a dirty old hat sitting on top of it. It sang a catchy little song before Professor McGonagall began calling out names. 

Thea watched as students were called out as Hufflepuffs, Slytherins, Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, each table cheering as they gained another member. All three of her new friends had been sorted into Gryffindor, and were watching eagerly from their place at the Gryffindor table.

"Theadora Bassitt." Professor McGonagall called, looking into the crowd. Thea gulped and made her way to the stool, her legs suddenly made of Jell-O.

"T-Thea." she said, looking up at Professor McGonagall. "I j-just prefer it, is all. If that's alright." She stuttered, instantly regretting correcting her teacher. Professor McGonagall took a quill, scratched her name out, and wrote "Thea", earning a smile from Thea. 

She sat down and felt the hat being lowered onto her head. It was so big that it fell right over her eyes, and she was surrounded by total darkness. She heard a voice speak to her slowly.

"Ah, a very smart girl you are, I can feel it. Maybe a Ravenclaw, hmm? Very intelligent, lots of creativity, mm? No, you are a courageous one. Yes, very brave, very brave. I say you are a...GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled out. 

Thea heard the roar of cheers from the Gryffindor table as she removed the hat and made her way down to her new friends. 

She sat beside Harry and high-fived everyone, including two other red-headed boys that Ron introduced as his brothers Fred and George. Thea's face hurt from smiling as she looked at all her new friends. 

She turned to watch the rest of the sorting and saw Neville Longbottom, the boy from the train, sit next on the stool. Thea silently hoped that he would get sorted with her. 

The hat was lowered onto his head and almost instantly it called out for Gryffindor. Thea smiled, her heart fluttering slightly, and she cheered with the rest of her House. 

She watched as Neville made his way to the table nervously, searching for a spot. The one next to Thea was wide open, and she smiled at him as he sat down beside her.

"Hi again." she said, and they both blushed slightly.

"Hi. G-good to see you in G-Gryffindor." He stuttered, avoiding her eyes again. "Nice to see a friend make the same House as me." Thea smiled to herself at this. 

She watched as Professor Dumbledore stood once more at the podium, calling out his congratulations to the newly sorted first years.

"And now, we feast!" Dumbledore yelled, and before her eyes, Thea watched as the tables magically conjured up plates among plates of food. 

Steak and kidney pie, chicken drumsticks, dinner rolls, green beans, mashed potatoes, and corn niblets appeared, along with so many other dishes, and Thea's mouth watered. 

She reached to grab the bowl of potatoes beside her but recoiled as she felt Neville's hand also reach for it. She looked at him and blushed.

"Sorry, you go ahead, I'll get something else." she cursed at herself as she turned away quickly so he wouldn't see her embarrassment. She couldn't help but notice the way her skin tingled from where their fingers had met. 

Thea definitely felt that this could be the start of a very long crush on this plump-cheeked boy sitting next to her.


	4. The First Day

"Caput Draconis" Percy Weasley said to the portrait of the Fat Lady, opening the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. 

Ron had introduced Thea and her friends to another one of his older brothers, Percy, the Prefect and Head Boy. 

Percy had led all the Gryffindor first years up to Gryffindor Tower, giving them a small tour of the school on their way up. 

Thea had been walking and conversing with Harry and Hermione, the three of them admiring the school and its fascinating wall of portraits and moving staircases.

"What do you think our dormitories are going to look like?" Harry asked excitedly. "Do you think we'll have our own rooms? Is my trunk even going to fit in my room? How big do you think the beds are? I'm glad that Draco Malfoy bloke didn't end up in Gryffindor. Could you imagine having to sleep in the same room as him?"

"Hey, Harry? Shut up." Thea joked, pretending to be annoyed with her new friend. As Percy led the students through the portrait door and into the Gryffindor Common Room, Thea's eyes searched in wonder at everything around her. 

The large fireplace was roaring, a warm glow settling over the whole room. There were big red couches, tables and chairs, bookshelves, lounge chairs, and workstations all around the room. 

Thea could not wait to spend all her free time here reading by the fire or playing Wizard Chess at the tables with her friends.

"Alright, first years. Lights out is at 9:00, so it is nearly time to head on up. Boys dorms are up this stairway and girls on the other." Percy said, attempting to gain the attention of the rowdy 11 year olds. "You can find the list of your roommates on the parchment beside the fireplace. Please read it carefully." 

Thea walked to the other side of the room, looking down the list to find her name. She saw that she was rooming with Hermione, Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, and Eloise Midgen.

"Looks like we're roommates!" Hermione said excitedly, coming up behind Thea and linking their arms together. Thea smiled warmly at her. 

She couldn't believe that she had already made a friend so early into her school career. She had always found it difficult to make friends, and this was a big change for her. 

Thea glanced over at the list, and couldn't help when her eyes were drawn to Neville's name. She saw that he would be rooming with Harry and Ron, along with two other boys named Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan. 

Maybe he and Harry will become friends. Thea thought to herself. Maybe he'll become part of our group.

"You coming, Thea?" Hermione asked, making her way over to the dormitory staircase. Thea smiled at her and crossed the room to her friend.

"Let's go."

* * *

The next morning, Thea woke up in her new bed and looked around her. She was confused for a moment, expecting to see her desk and Quidditch posters, but soon remembered where she was. 

The bright sunlight coming from the windows warmed her skin and calmed her heart. It seemed that she was the only one awake in the dorm. 

Before going to sleep the night before, Thea and Hermione had stayed up with their new roommates talking and getting to know them a little bit more. 

Thea could not believe how easy it was to get along with people she had never met before. 

She rubbed her eyes and checked the time on the watch on her nightstand. 8.37am. Thea groaned silently. 

She didn't want to wake her friends, but she couldn't lie in bed any longer. She changed her clothes as quietly as possible and picked up her book, creeping out of the room and downstairs to the common room. It was empty, except for one person.

"Oh, good morning, Neville." Thea said quietly, blushing a bit at the boy sitting at the table. Neville sat there alone, writing aimlessly on a piece of parchment. He looked up at her, his cheeks tinged pink.

"Good morning, Thea. What are you doing awake so early?" he asked, dropping his quill to hide his hands under the table.

"Couldn't sleep. I've been in and out for a while." she said, moving over to sit on the couch. "I've never slept away from home before, so I got a bit nervous."

"Me too. Sleeping away from home, I mean. It's just me and my grandmother, so I couldn't stop thinking of her all night." Neville replied, angling his body slightly so he was facing her. Thea smiled weakly at him.

"Well, at least you know you've got a friend here who feels the same way as you." Neville smiled and blushed again, nodding his head.

"Are you heading down to breakfast?" he asked. "I was about to go now, if...if you wanted to go with me?" Thea nodded, setting her book down on the table beside her.

"I'd love to." Thea and Neville walked side by side to the Great Hall, and she praised silent thanks as they walked in and she saw Harry and the Weasley twins already sitting there.

"Happy first morning, kids." Fred Weasley exclaimed, grinning as Thea and Neville sat at the table across from them. 

His twin brother George smiled at them from beside, and on Thea's right, Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement as he drained his cup of pumpkin juice. 

Thea piled some bacon, eggs, sausage, and fried potatoes onto her plate, and her stomach growled menacingly as she downed the first bite of eggs.

"Would you like some juice?" Neville asked from her side, gesturing to the pitcher of pumpkin juice he was holding.

"Sure." Thea responded, and watched as he filled her glass nearly to the brim with shaky hands. "Thanks, Neville."

"Merlin's beard, you guys are here early." came a tired voice from behind the table. Thea and Harry looked up to see a sleepy-eyed Ron taking a seat across from them, reaching for a slice of bacon. George chuckled.

"Mate, it's the first day of classes. Everyone's up early on the first day."

"Yeah, well, I like my sleep. Sue me." Ron fired back, clearly still half asleep. Thea looked over at George and shrugged, before the two of them laughed and turned back to their plates. 

Over the next half hour, Thea and her friends were joined by Hermione and Lee Jordan, the Weasley twins' best friend. 

After a morning of talking, laughing, and eating, the Gryffindors took off for their tower to get ready for classes, and were on their way to the first floor for their History of Magic class.

"This...is unbearable." groaned Ron, after about 20 minutes of their first lesson. Professor Binns, the History of Magic professor, was incredibly difficult to listen to. 

Thea found herself getting sleepy-eyed as well, as her professor's monotone voice droned quietly from the front. 

She sat with Harry, Ron, and Hermione at a table together, their school bags thrown in a pile underneath their feet. Hermione, of course, was following along excitedly with her own textbook, wide-eyed and happy. Thea guessed that maybe this was her favourite subject. 

She looked around the class, trying not to fall asleep, when she spotted Neville sitting at a table across the room with Dean and Seamus. 

At the exact same moment, he happened to look up and their eyes met for a quick moment. She immediately averted her eyes, blushing, assuming he had done the same. For the rest of the lesson, Thea forced her attention forwards and on her professor.

"Well, that was hell." Harry said, as the group made their way to their Transfiguration lesson after History of Magic. Thea laughed, already feeling tired, but happy that her magic career had begun.

* * *

The first month of classes had gone by in a whirl. Thea had never done this much homework in her life. Her Potions teacher, Professor Snape, had already given them 2 essays to write, each at least 12 inches of parchment in length, and Thea was already working hard on her next one. 

She and Harry both heavily disliked Professor Snape, and the feeling was quite mutual. He always found ways to degrade or anger them during his classes. Ron and Harry struggled as much as Thea did, both falling behind with their homework in nearly every class. 

Hermione was completely on top of everything, with no surprise, and was actually ahead in most of her classes, working on unassigned homework for the upcoming week. 

Aside from that, her first month at Hogwarts had been great. She had made many new friends, Neville included. She couldn't help but feel nervous whenever she was around him.

"Hey, are you going down to breakfast anytime soon?" Hermione asked as she climbed through the portrait door. It was Saturday morning, and Thea had decided to work on her homework early so she could spend the day relaxing.

"I'll be heading down in a minute, just wanted to finish my assignment first." She gestured to her quill and parchment. "Why?"

"Neville's down there. He's been sitting there for almost 20 minutes, and he keeps looking at the door. I think he's waiting for you." Hermione said, grinning at the blush that began to spread on Thea's cheeks. 

Thea hadn't even realized that she ate breakfast with Neville every day since they started at Hogwarts. She laughed nervously.

"I don't think he's waiting for me, he probably was just distracted or something." Thea said, toying with her hair anxiously. Hermione grinned wider.

"I honestly think he's waiting for you to start eating, Thee." Thea's eyes widened. "I think little Neville has a crush on you."

"What? No way. You're out of your mind." Thea said, collecting her things from the table and packing them away, standing quickly. 

"And on that note, I am going to the Great Hall because I'm hungry, and that's where we go when we're hungry, because there's nowhere else for that here..." Thea babbled, tripping over the step in the portrait as she made her way out into the hall. 

No way he has a crush on me. Why would he? We've only just met. Thea's mind swirled with questions as she passed through to the Great Hall. 

As she made her way to the Gryffindor table she saw Neville, empty plate in front of him, engaging in light conversation with a second year sitting a few spots away from him.

"Hi, Neville." Thea said cautiously. "Is it alright if I sit here?" Neville looked up at her, pink cheeks and wide eyes. He moved his school bag from the seat to his left and gestured. Thea sat down and the two of them began filling their plates in silence. 

They spent the meal making light conversation, Neville making Thea giggle more than once, and she liked the way she felt with him here. 

Thea definitely knew that she liked Neville, and she couldn't help but think that Hermione may have been right about his feelings too.


	5. The Letter

The months leading up to the Christmas holidays flew by in a blur of spells, Quidditch, homework, and stress. Every single class Thea attended was packed with learning and assignments. 

Professor Snape never let them off the hook and assigned something every single class. 

Professors Flitwick and McGonagall were more practical, preferring in-class activity to take home assignments, but they were difficult all the same. 

Thea never got the chance to hang out with any of her friends because they were always so busy with their homework. 

Thea and her friends had spent all of November writing essay after essay, and now that it was December, everyone was restless for Christmas to arrive. 

Thea couldn't wait for Christmas because it meant she would finally be seeing her parents for the first time since leaving for Hogwarts, but she was going to miss her friends dearly.

"Are you going home for the Christmas holidays too, Thee?" Hermione asked as Thea packed a bag for her trip home. She nodded and folded up a shirt.

"Yeah, I promised my parents I would come back for a bit. I miss them a lot, though, so I'm happy. You?"

"Of course!" Hermione exclaimed happily. Thea wondered what Christmas in a Muggle house was like, and if it was any different than a Wizard Christmas. 

"I heard Neville is going back home too. We should sit with him on the train." Hermione said, cocking an eyebrow mockingly. Thea felt her lips curling into a smile.

"I mean, I wouldn't want him to sit by himself, especially if we're there." Thea said, avoiding Hermione's eyes. "That would just be rude of us." 

As Thea and Hermione headed down to the Great Hall for lunch, Thea couldn't help but smile. 

Even though she had never really said anything, Hermione knew how she felt about Neville. She was one of her best friends, after all, so Thea didn't even really need to say anything for Hermione to know the truth. But Thea couldn't help but wonder if Hermione knew the truth about how Neville felt, too. 

As they entered the Great Hall, Thea's eyes lit up at the sight before her. The entire hall had been lined with enormous Christmas trees, and there were lights and garland strung all over the hall. 

The Head Table, where all the Professors sat, was decorated with red and green tablecloths, with holly strung all around. From above, candles and mistletoe floated from the ceiling, filling the Great Hall with a warm and happy glow. 

As Thea sat with her friends at the Gryffindor table, she couldn't help but feel her heart swell at the joy Christmas always brought her. 

The next day, Hermione, Thea, and Neville made their way to Hogsmeade Station, eager to get on the train and see their families. Harry and Ron had opted to stay at school for the break. 

Once on the train, Hermione made a point of lying on one bench in the compartment and stretching out, forcing Thea and Neville to sit together on the other side. They both sat down awkwardly as the train lurched forward.

"So, Neville." Hermione began, pulling a textbook from her school bag. "Is your grandmother excited to see you for the holidays?" Neville blushed, looking from Hermione to Thea.

"I think so. It's just the two of us, so I didn't want her to be lonely for Christmas. It's already hard enough with me being gone for school for so long." Hermione gave him a puzzled look.

"Don't you celebrate with your parents?" she asked, wide-eyed. Neville's face turned beet red and he could no longer bring his eyes up to the girls. 

Thea had heard some rumors about Neville's parents, and what she heard wasn't good, so she tried to divert the conversation away from the sad little boy sitting next to her.

"You know, I heard it's supposed to snow on Christmas Eve." she said, drawing through the condensation on the window with her finger, breaking the tension. "I reckon we'll be having a white Christmas this year." Hermione smiled weakly, obviously regretting what she had said to Neville. 

The rest of the trip was spent in silence, the only distraction coming from the snack cart about halfway through the trip. As the train had slowed into King's Cross, Neville didn't even wait for it to stop before jumping up and grabbing his bag.

"Thanks for sitting with me. Merry Christmas, I'll see you after the holidays." he muttered quickly, turning to exit the compartment. Thea and Hermione looked at each other nervously, and Hermione hung her head in her hands and groaned.

"That was so stupid of me, why would I do that? I mean, you've heard the rumors. Why couldn't I just control myself?"

"Hey, relax." Thea said, sitting and putting a comforting arm over Hermione's shoulders. "You didn't know. They're just rumors. It doesn't mean they're true. Plus, you were just trying to be a good friend. I'm sure he understands that."

"Or I've just ruined everything." Hermione cried, looking up at Thea. Thea gave her a comforting smile and helped her up, and the two friends walked off the train and onto the platform, hugging goodbye as they saw their parents waiting excitedly for their children. 

They both went their separate ways, and Thea ran as she saw her parents waiting, her dad's arms open and ready for her. 

She ran and jumped into his chest, nearly knocking him over. She placed Aurora's cage on the ground before embracing him a second time.

"Oh, Theadora, we missed you!" her mother cried excitedly, wrapping herself around the two of them. Thea breathed in her parents' scents, forgetting just how much she missed them. She pulled back to look at them both, and her words came tumbling out.

"I'm so sorry I haven't been writing like I said I would. The school work has been so time consuming and I hardly ever had a free moment to send an owl. I know I promised to write once a week but I haven't and I'm so sorry, please don't be mad."

"Mad? Are you kidding?" her dad said incredulously. "Why would we ever be mad at that? Thea, we went to that school, too, believe it or not. We know how hard it is to travel up to the owlery all the time. We knew you were just having a good time, sweetie." 

Thea smiled at her parents as she picked up her owl and her bag, and they headed home to enjoy the holidays together.

* * *

As Thea woke on Christmas Day, she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face looking out her window. She jumped out of bed and threw the curtains back, squealing when she saw her backyard completely covered in snow. 

She put on her slippers and ran downstairs to find her parents in the kitchen, sipping coffee and reading the Daily Prophet.

"Merry Christmas!" she exclaimed, kissing both her parents lovingly. Her mother's eyes darted to their beautiful Christmas tree in the sitting room teasingly.

"I think Father Christmas brought you something." Thea smiled as she turned and ran into the room and saw a pile of presents waiting there for them. 

She quickly grabbed something to eat then, for the next hour, she sat with her parents as the three of them opened their Christmas gifts. 

As Thea placed the last box beside her, there was a scratching at the window in the kitchen. Her father got up to let the post owl in, untying the scroll from its leg and sending it back out with a treat.

"Thea, sweetie, you've got mail." he said, tossing the scroll delicately onto the table. Thea got up to see what it was, and her heart fluttered at the familiar messy writing.

"Who's it from, sweetie?" her mom asked, walking into the kitchen to throw away the discarded wrapping paper. Thea swallowed and took the paper, turning to head to her bedroom.

"Oh, nothing. It's just a letter from school wishing us a happy Christmas holiday." She turned on her heel and zoomed up the stairs. 

She closed her door and sat on her bed, admiring the scroll before tearing it open slowly. Her cheeks heated up as she read the letter.

"Dear Thea, I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas with your family. I hope you are happy that you've gotten to go back home and see your parents. I'm having a lovely time here with my grandmother, but I miss you and everyone at Hogwarts. Did you get any good gifts? My grandmother got me some really great rare plants that I can't wait to study. I just wanted to send you this to say Happy Holidays, and I can't wait to see you back at Hogwarts in the new year. Hope you are well. Sincerely, Neville Longbottom."

Thea's heart hammered in her chest as she read the note over and over again. She clutched it to her chest, her cheeks flushed red. She could not believe he had written to her and told her that he missed her. 

Had he written to any of their other friends? Thea couldn't help but wonder as she pulled a piece of parchment and her ink set from her desk. 

She thought about writing to Hermione to tell her the good news, but decided against it. Thea knew that Hermione would rather experience this with her in person. 

As Thea flattened the new sheet of parchment with her hands, she knew she had to write back to him immediately.

"Dear Neville, Merry Christmas to you too! It's wonderful that you have gotten to spend Christmas with your grandmother, I'm sure she appreciates you so much. I'm also glad to hear that you loved your gifts. I got some great ones too, including a Muggle book series that I have been wanting to read, and a miniature telescope because I love Astronomy and looking at the stars. I miss you and our friends dearly as well, and I can't wait to go back to school, too. Thank you for your letter. It made me smile a lot. See you soon, Thea Bassitt." 

She rolled the parchment up tightly and tied it to Aurora's leg, taking her out of her cage and bringing her to the open window.

"Take this to Neville Longbottom, please." Aurora pushed off her arm and into the sky, and Thea watched as her letter made its way to the sweet boy she longed to see again.

* * *

"You're joking!" Hermione gasped, her eyes wide at the news. They were on the train back to Hogwarts, and Thea had just told her about Neville's Christmas note. "Do you still have it?" 

Thea giggled and reached into the front pocket of her bag, pulling out the note. She was so afraid of losing it now, and she carried it everywhere she went. Thea had waited nearly the whole trip to share her news with Hermione.

"What did yours say?" Thea asked casually as Hermione read the note over. Hermione looked up at her, her brow furrowed.

"What makes you think I got one? I'm pretty sure he just sent one to you." Thea felt her cheeks flush bright red at this.

"No way, he would have sent one to all of his friends, right?" she asked, feeling her stomach fill up with butterflies. A smile crept onto Hermione's face as the realization hit her.

"He likes you! I told you he did! Why else would he send you an owl on Christmas but none of his other friends? Oh, Thea, this is so cute!"

"Stop that!" Thea laughed. "We don't know for sure that it was just me." She took her note back from Hermione's hands, smoothing it out before placing it gently back in its pocket.

"I guess we'll just have to find out for ourselves." Hermione said teasingly as the train slowed and pulled to a stop at Hogsmeade Station. 

The entire way up to the castle, the two friends laughed and giggled about seeing their friends once again, but Thea could not get her mind off the fact that Neville may have done this just for her. 

They reached Gryffindor Tower, greeting the Fat Lady with the new password and entering into the common room. 

They saw Harry and Ron playing Wizard Chess in the corner table, while Fred and George challenged Dean and Seamus to a game of Exploding Snap over by the fireplace.

"Oi, look who's back!" called George excitedly, waving as the two girls settled beside Harry and Ron at the table.

"How was Hogwarts at Christmas, then, boys?" Thea asked, tossing her bag underneath the table. Ron looked up at her just as Harry's Rook took one of his Pawns.

"It was alright. Harry got some presents from my mum which he was really happy about. It was quiet though. Very chilled. How about you two? Any good gifts this year?" 

The four of them laughed with each other as they each recounted some memories from the holiday. Hermione told them a story about a Muggle Christmas movie she had watched with her parents, and Thea thought it sounded wonderful. 

When a lull in the conversation occurred, Thea took her chance.

"Hey, just wondering, did either of you receive any letters from anyone over the break? From a friend or something?" She eyed Hermione as she asked the two boys. Harry thought back for a moment.

"Nope. I reckon Ron didn't either, apart from one from his mum." Thea blushed and Hermione smiled widely.

"I knew it!" she said, trying to cover her huge smile with her hands. Thea's eyes widened as she shot Hermione a look as if to say "Shut up". 

Hermione's expression changed drastically and she pretended as if the conversation never even happened. The boys looked from Thea to Hermione, then back at each other quizzically.

"Girls are so weird." Ron said under his breath, earning a shove from Hermione. Thea's attention was drawn from her friends and she looked up as the portrait door opened and Neville clambered in, his hands full of potted plants and his toad, Trevor. 

Thea's head snapped to Hermione and her eyes widened, Hermione's doing the same. What were the chances that he would walk in at that exact moment? 

Hermione mouthed something about Thea talking to Neville, so Thea turned around and waited for him.

"Hi, Neville." she said, catching him off guard. He dropped some of the plants he was holding in response.

"Oh, hi, Thea." Thea ran over to help him pick up his things. "Did you have a good holiday?" he asked in a shaky voice. Thea stood to hand him his things and nodded, smiling.

"I did, thanks. And thank you for the letter. It was really thoughtful."

"Y-yeah, of c-course. Well, I'm just going to...head upstairs. Good to see you." he said nervously, pushing past Thea and up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. 

She exchanged a look of confusion with Hermione, and went to take her seat again beside her friends. No one said anything about the interaction, and continued on with their game as normal. 

Thea couldn't focus on the game anymore. Not after watching Neville's adorable blush when he spoke to her. She was really falling for this boy, and she was hoping that he was doing the same.


	6. Goodbye First Year

The last few months of term seemed to drag on for Thea and her friends. They had been given more homework than before Christmas, and they had even less free time than ever. 

Harry had fallen behind in every single class because of Quidditch practice, but no one seemed to care when he helped Gryffindor win the House Cup. 

All of Gryffindor House had joined in the Common Room to celebrate the win, including Hermione, who finally decided on taking a study break. 

The House Cup had already felt like a dream, but it was even better for Gryffindor because it came against Slytherin. 

Not only were Gryffindor and Slytherin rivals, but somehow Harry and Draco Malfoy had become mortal enemies. Watching Draco's face as Harry caught the Golden Snitch, bringing Gryffindor to victory, was ever so sweet for Thea and her friends.

"Look at you, mate. Youngest Seeker in a century, winning the Quidditch cup in his first year!" Fred exclaimed, as he and George lifted Harry into the air in celebration. 

As the two Beaters on the team, Fred and George couldn't be happier that their little brother's best friend had led them to victory. 

Harry laughed atop their shoulders, looking down at everyone gathered in the common room. Thea stood with Ron, Hermione, Neville, Dean, and Seamus, the group celebrating Harry together. 

Thea and Neville had somewhat broken through the awkward blush barrier and were able to hang out and be around each other without feeling the need to run away. 

They had actually become decent friends, though he still made Thea nervous.

"Harry, you could play Quidditch professionally!" said Ron excitedly, high-fiving his best friend. "You know, the Chudley Cannons are always looking for new players." Thea laughed loudly, knowing all about the Quidditch world and how bad Ron's favorite team actually was.

"Good luck getting that to happen, mate." Harry replied jokingly to Ron. Thea and Neville laughed along, Hermione not understanding a single thing. 

Dean and Seamus had gone off to talk to Fred and George, but Thea knew Seamus would have rolled over laughing at Ron's attempts to convince everyone the Cannons were the best team.

"Alright, alright, it's getting late, we should head to bed." Harry said, picking up his Quidditch uniform and his school bag. "We've got Potions in the morning and I'm going to need a good night's sleep if I have to deal with Snape that early." 

Everyone groaned at the thought. Snape was the head of Slytherin House, and he always made sure that Thea and her friends, Harry especially, were absolutely miserable. Everyone picked their belongings off the ground to head up to their dorms.

"Hey, Thea." came a small voice from behind. Thea turned to see Neville walking over to her. "I was just wondering if, maybe, you wanted to sit together in Transfiguration tomorrow? Dean and Seamus have a special removal from class so I'll be by myself." Thea smiled at him.

"Of course, come sit with us tomorrow. You know you don't have to ask, right? I've told you before, we'd all love for you to join us."

"Alright, thanks. Goodnight then." Neville said happily, before heading up towards the boys' dormitories. Thea smiled to herself as she made her way to her own room. 

She adored when Neville sat with her in class and the way he concentrated on everything so hard. She was just glad she wouldn't be by herself with him. Who knows what kind of nerves she would have then. 

The next day, Neville sat with Thea, Ron, Harry, and Hermione in every class. The boys didn't understand why, even though they welcomed Neville with open arms, but Hermione couldn't stop grinning all day. 

She kept teasing Thea, looking between her and Neville and making kissy faces. Thea wanted to be annoyed by this, but she couldn't help but laugh silently every time. She knew Hermione was only doing this to make her less nervous, which she greatly appreciated.

"Wands away, books out. Now." Snape's voice droned loudly over the class as they filed into the dungeons for their final Potions lesson before examinations. 

Thea was terrified of Professor Snape, so she never made a sound in his classes. She sat at her regular work table, pulling her cauldron and textbook out and looking up to her teacher. 

His voice hissed as he called out directions for the Potion they were making, the Forgetfulness Potion. Hermione seemed to be the only one in the group who could mix the potion with ease.

"Mr. Weasley, why is your potion green when your text specifically states it must turn orange?" Snape asked, hovering over Ron's workspace rudely. "Pathetic. 10 points from Gryffindor." 

From the table behind her, Thea could hear Draco and his two minions, Crabbe and Goyle, snickering away at this. They were Snape's favorites, so they could do no wrong, no matter what. 

Thea looked down at her own cauldron and sighed. It was the right color, but the wrong consistency. Beside her, Harry's potion was steaming, and Neville's was about ready to catch fire. Hermione's looked fairly decent, but Snape would never admit to it. 

Just as Snape turned away to check on his other students, a loud explosion beside Thea caused her and her friends to gasp in fright. 

Neville's potion had boiled over in his cauldron. Somehow, the ingredients caused it to be flammable, and his whole cauldron was enveloped in smoke. 

As everyone laughed at him, Thea and her friends looked at each other in concern.

"Mr. Longbottom." Snape drawled, obviously amused at the Gryffindor's misfortune. "I would suggest going to the hospital wing to have this checked out. And next time, try to be a bit smarter with your ingredients." 

Neville grabbed his belongings, never looking up, and ran out of the classroom, leaving behind raucous laughter and four concerned friends. 

As soon as the class was dismissed, Thea picked up her bag and ran out of the room. She hoped Neville wasn't too badly injured, and she wanted him to know that he had a friend who cared about him. 

Thea ran to the hospital wing and saw Neville lying on the second bed, tears staining his cheeks. He noticed her in the doorway and wiped his cheeks hard, turning his back towards her.

"I'm fine, just embarrassed is all. I'm always embarrassing myself here." Thea looked at the small boy in front of her and felt her heart hurt a bit. 

Neville was such a smart, kind boy, but no one ever saw him for who he was. Just because of a couple moments, he had been labelled a loser and had no real friends outside of Thea, Ron, Harry, and Hermione. 

"I hate Professor Snape so much." She approached him hesitantly, standing a couple feet from him.

"Neville, you don't have to be embarrassed in front of me." she said in a calming voice, which made him shift slightly towards her. "I'm just glad you're okay. And we can all collectively hate Snape, no problem." He laughed in a surprised way.

"I'm fine, but I don't think I can ever show my face here again. One year in and I'm an absolute basket case." Thea sighed and moved to the other side of the bed, forcing him to look at her. She sat on the other bed next to him.

"Neville, I promise no one is going to remember this. And if they do, that's okay. If they make fun of you for it, it's their problem that they can't let it go." He looked up at her with sad eyes. She continued on. 

"What matters is how you deal with it. If you're too scared to stand up for yourself, that's okay, because I will. Your friends will." Their eyes met and he smiled sadly, but nodded.

"You're a good friend, Thea." She blushed slightly. Thea sat with Neville for nearly an hour before Madam Pomfrey cleared him to go back to Gryffindor Tower. 

They had talked a bit, and Thea's stomach felt warm and full of butterflies. They walked back to the tower in silence, but there was no awkwardness hanging above them. 

Thea listened to her heart beat in her chest as they walked, happy that she got to spend this time with him.

* * *

"Thank God that's over!" Ron groaned, scratching at his head. Thea and her friends had just finished their final exam of the term, meaning their first year at Hogwarts had come to an end. All their exams had gone well, except for their Potions exam. 

Snape made sure that no one from Gryffindor would be happy with what they were doing. Still, Thea felt good about her work. Ron and Harry, on the other hand, both thought they failed. Hermione was incredibly confident, as usual.

"I can't believe we're done." Harry said incredulously, leading his friends back to Gryffindor Tower. "Just like that and our first year at Hogwarts is officially over." Thea smiled, though she felt a pang of sadness in her chest. 

She had been having the time of her life at Hogwarts. Even though she was only going to be gone for the summer, Thea was so sad to leave. 

The things she was learning and the friends she had made were worth more than she could explain. She had never felt so happy and so appreciated in her life. Harry passed through the portrait door, followed by Thea, Ron, Neville, and Hermione. 

Thea looked around her at the Gryffindor Common Room and sat by the fireplace, taking in the sounds and smells emanating from it one last time. She felt the couch dip beside her as Hermione sat down, throwing her arm over Thea's shoulder.

"You know, I expect an owl from you once a week this summer." she said, resting the side of her head against Thea's. Thea giggled.

"Of course. You and Ron and Harry and..." She trailed off, blushing at the thought. She had never really decided if she would write to Neville as often as she wrote to her other friends. 

She knew he would appreciate it, but she didn't want to overwhelm him. Hermione's head snapped towards Thea, a bright smile on her face.

"Oh, come on! You were going to say it. You're going to write to Neville every week, too." She said his name in a flirty singsong voice, causing Thea's eyes to roll so far back in her head she could almost see behind her. 

Hermione wasn't wrong, though. When they were sitting in the hospital wing together, Thea and Neville had promised to try and write to each other as often as they could over the summer break. Thea knew that she would keep that promise for this special boy. 

The final Hogwarts dinner passed in a haze of laughter and reminiscing. Thea sat with her four best friends, Dean, Seamus, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, and enjoyed her final night at Hogwarts. 

She ate until she could no longer do up her pants button, and laughed until she had tears in her eyes. She could not believe that she was as happy as she was. 

Hogwarts is her home, and these people are her family. Although she would be leaving them for the next two months, Thea knew they would be waiting for her to do it all over again in September. 

And she hoped that the round-cheeked boy she had met on the train all those months ago would still be right by her side.


	7. The Moment Begins

Thea stretched her legs in the tight compartment as the Hogwarts Express made its way over the final hill of the tracks. 

Thea and her friends were heading into their fourth year at Hogwarts, but the journey never got easier. They were all taller and older, and the small train compartments had continuously gotten smaller and smaller. 

Beside her, Hermione had just pulled on her new robes, smoothing the wrinkles that had formed in the material. 

Across from her, Ron watched intently, pushing his long red hair out of his eyes mischievously. Thea had always thought that he liked Hermione, but she never said anything about it. 

Harry sat beside Ron, engaging in a long conversation with Thea about the Quidditch World Cup. Harry had been telling her all about the Dark Mark they saw, but Thea's mind was elsewhere. She was thinking about Neville. 

They had written to each other over the summer, as they've done every year since first year, but she hadn't seen him on the train. She looked for him on the platform but he wasn't there, so she had assumed he had already gotten on. 

Over the past three years, Thea's friendship with Neville had grown beautifully, but she yearned for more. It was painfully obvious to everyone around them that they had feelings for each other, but were both too scared to say anything. 

Thea was worried about it ruining their friendship, and she cared too much about it to risk that.

"Hey, Thea, you coming?" she heard Harry's voice say distantly. She turned her head to see her friends all standing, waiting for the train to halt to head out. She hadn't realized she had zoned out, and shook the fog from her brain.

"Yeah, sorry." she said, picking up her bag and her owl's cage. The train had stopped, and Thea followed her friends out the door and off the train. 

It wasn't until they had reached the platform that she saw him. 

One car over, Neville had gotten off the train with his new owl and a school bag. Thea's heart fluttered as she looked at him. He had grown nearly a foot over the summer, his head floating above the crowd, and his hair was longer. 

She admired the way his curls framed his face. He looked older, and more handsome than ever. 

As she watched him, he turned to scan the platform, and his eyes lit up as he saw her. He strode over to her and her heart stopped.

"Hi." he said nervously, putting the cage down on the floor to hug Thea. They wrapped their arms around each other awkwardly. Thea had ended up with one arm slung around his left shoulder, the other under his right arm. 

"I was wondering where you were. I didn't see you at the station." Thea looked up at the boy in front of her. He was so tall that her head barely made it to his chin. She swallowed, trying to relax her heart.

"Yea, I had a thing at home so I was late to King's Cross. I found Hermione at the last minute." She turned to see where her friends had gone, and she found Ron and Hermione watching them and giggling to each other. 

Thea's eyes closed in embarrassment, hoping Neville hadn't followed her gaze. "Did you have a good summer?" she asked, and they started to walk towards the end of the platform. He nodded, smiling softly to himself.

"I did, yeah. Got to see my parents, which was nice." Thea looked up at him, surprised by his words. She was his best friend, but even Thea knew nothing about his parents. He would tell her little things here and there, but she didn't know the full story. She didn't want to force him to talk, so she just stayed silent as he continued. 

"They're doing okay. Well, as okay as they can. You? How was your birthday? I hope you liked the card, it took me a whole day to make." Thea's face flushed. 

She thought back to the card she had received by owl on her birthday. It was a light purple parchment, her favourite colour, with cute cartoon flowers drawn all around it. On the inside of the card, written in his big messy scroll, said the words "Happy Birthday, Birthday Girl!", followed by a loving message. It was corny and sweet and Thea adored every aspect of it.

"It was great, we just did dinner at home and dessert and stuff. And yes, I loved the card. I brought it with me, actually. In case I ever need a pick-me-up." They glanced at each other for a moment before looking back and continuing their walk. 

"How was yours?" Thea asked, looking up at Neville. His birthday was just under a month before hers. He smiled softly, his eyes lighting up.

"It was great." he said, turning his head to look at Thea, his smile growing wider. "I had a great time with my Gran at dinner. We went to my favourite restaurant and she got the whole place to sing for me." Thea smiled, her heart fluttering. She loved when he was happy, even if it was over something as simple as a birthday dinner.

Thea and Neville eventually made it back to the group, everyone hugging or waving hello, and the five of them were off to the carriages, waiting to take them up to their school. They sat through the year's sorting, awaiting dinner, when Dumbledore stood to speak.

"As we welcome you back to Hogwarts this September, we are pleased to announce that this year Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament." he bellowed, causing an eruption of whispers from around the Great Hall. Thea looked around at her friends excitedly as Dumbledore continued his speech. 

"In a short moment, we will be welcoming the students from the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang schools, and they will be joining us in our beginning of term dinner. Please be respectful of our new students, and make sure you make them feel welcomed." 

Thea and her friends watched in awe as the two schools made their way into the Great Hall. 

It was like watching a circus performance. As the Beauxbatons girls made their way through the doors, Thea noticed that every boy in the room had suddenly fallen into an intoxicated state, their eyes glazed over. Veelas. She thought, annoyed. 

She stole a glance at Neville sitting across from her, and he caught her eye and smiled. He was the only boy not staring at the girls. Thea's face blushed scarlet. She turned away to watch as the Durmstrang boys made their way into the hall. The hall erupted in gasps and whispers as they approached.

"It-it's Viktor Krum!" Thea heard Ron whisper from beside Harry. "Viktor Krum!"

"You going to get his autograph, mate?" Harry joked, looking at the wide eyes and pale skin on his best friend. "Follow him around like all the lovestruck girls?" Ron rolled his eyes but continued to watch Viktor Krum with his mouth slightly open. 

Thea could see many of the girls around the hall giggle to each other as he passed. She didn't see what was so special about him, but maybe that was just her.

"Silence!" Dumbledore boomed, quieting the hall in mere seconds. "I would like to thank Igor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, our guest headmasters, for bringing their students here to us today." He gestured behind him to a man with long black hair and yellow teeth, and a woman who was even bigger than Hagrid. Thea couldn't believe her eyes. 

"The Triwizard Tournament chooses three students, one from each school, to compete in a set of three challenges to win a prize of 1000 Galleons, and the Triwizard Cup." 

Dumbledore gestured behind him at a gorgeous golden trophy. Everyone's eyes lit up as they looked at the glimmering trophy, its glory shining across the hall.

"It's gorgeous. I would love to know what that beauty feels like, wouldn't you?" Thea said to Harry, realizing his awed expression. "And 1000 Galleons. Pretty good money, innit?"

"Now, as we all know, there is immense danger involved in this tournament. Many people struggle with the tasks, and no one remains the same after the tournament is over. Because of this, we are putting a strict age limit on the competition. No witch or wizard under the age of 17 will be allowed to enter." 

Dumbledore stepped back and allowed the students to react. Fred and George yelled out their anger, among many others, about not being able to participate. 

Everyone wanted a shot at this tournament, and, more so the money. After a few minutes of the students expressing their discontent, Dumbledore silenced them once again. 

"The students who wish to enter the tournament will put their names in here, the Goblet of Fire." He gestured to the center of the hall, where a large goblet stood, warm blue flames emitting from its entrance. 

The rest of the night involved the welcome back dinner, before all the students made their way to their dormitories for the night. Thea walked with Neville slowly to Gryffindor Tower.

"Would you have entered?" she asked as they stepped through the portrait and into the common room. "The competition? If you were old enough, I mean." Neville shrugged, contemplating.

"Maybe. I reckon I probably wouldn't have been good enough for it though." Thea opened her mouth to argue with him, but was interrupted. 

"I'm sorry, Thea, but it's been a long day and I'm knackered. I'll see you in the morning, though?" Thea said nothing and nodded, sending him off with a sweet smile before sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace. 

She never understood why Neville was always so hard on himself. It honestly made her feel sad with how often he talked down to himself. She wished he would see himself the way she saw him.

* * *

The days following the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament had been a whirlwind of emotions for Gryffindor House. The three champions had been picked, naming Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts, Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons, and Viktor Krum of Durmstrang. Except there were four champions this year. 

Somehow, Harry's name had come out of the Goblet, and everyone was confused and angry. No one more so than Ron. After Thea and her friends had watched Fred and George try and fail to enter their names, they knew it would be impossible to cheat the system. 

No one quite understood how Harry's name had ended up in the Goblet. Ron didn't speak to Harry for days, most of the time acting as if he wasn't even there. He ignored him at meals, sat across the room from him in classes, and actively avoided the Gryffindor common room if Harry was there. Harry grovelled time and time again, trying to prove to his friends that he didn't do it. 

Thea believed him, of course, but there were people who had their doubts. Neville being one of them.

"I just don't understand how he could have done it." he said to Thea as they sat at the corner table in the common room, working on a Charms essay. 

He had picked up his wand as a distraction, and Thea watched how his fingers handled it so delicately. "How could he have possibly gotten past Dumbledore's magic?" Thea looked up at him, dropping her quill.

"Do you really believe he did it though? We both know Harry well, we know he's not that kind of person. Besides, he wouldn't lie about something like this and you know that. I'm a little shocked that you don't believe him, if I'm being quite honest." Neville toyed with his wand absentmindedly.

"You're right, I guess. I dunno, it just seems strange." He held her gaze, as if to find answers in her eyes, before they both looked down to continue their work. Thea's cheeks flushed.

"I heard a rumor that the first task is going to be brutal." She said, doodling idly on her parchment. "Would you want to sit with me to watch?" He smiled, still not looking up at her.

"Of course I would."

* * *

After a couple weeks of waiting around, the first task had finally arrived. Regardless of how everyone felt towards Harry's possible betrayal, there was a feeling of nerves that hung heavily over the Gryffindors. 

No one knew what was going to happen, but Thea and her friends had heard rumors of dragons. If that was the case, they knew they had to fear the absolute worst. 

The half hour leading up to the task was dreadful. Thea made her way up the stands with her friends, no one saying a word. 

Ron was as pale as a sheet as he sat facing the arena. He may have been angry with Harry, but having to watch his best friend in a moment like this was not going to bode well for him.

"Are you guys feeling alright?" Hermione asked. She was seated beside Ron on Thea's right, Neville seated on her left. 

"We're all worried and no one knows what to expect, so I just wanted to check in." Thea shrugged and Neville stared straight ahead, his eyes wide with fear. 

Hermione put a comforting hand on Thea's upper arm, then turned her attention to the beginning of the competition. 

Thea's heart nearly sank out of her chest as she watched the first dragon being brought in. She had hoped that the rumors weren't true. She felt Neville shudder beside her, and she shifted slightly towards him in comfort. 

The next couple hours were spent wracked in fear as the audience watched the first three champions attempt the challenge. Every time the dragons made a slight move, people gasped, but the arena as a whole was dead silent. 

Until it was Harry's turn. Cheers erupted as his name was called out. Thea felt dizzy as she watched Harry enter the arena. She couldn't watch, not this, but she also couldn't tear her eyes away.

"Bloody hell." Neville murmured beside her, the blood draining from his face.

"Come on Harry, you can do this." came a nervous whisper from Hermione's mouth in near silent prayer. Ron stayed silent, his eyes closed and his brows furrowed. Harry took a few steps forward before his dragon lurched towards him. 

Thea and Hermione screamed in fear, and Thea felt a hand clasp her own. She looked down to see Neville's hand wrapped around hers, his eyes focused on Harry. She couldn't help but feel her heart stop at the contact. 

His hand on hers made her feel safe, even if she wasn't the one needing protection. His hand was larger than hers, but they fit perfectly together. 

She looked over at him and studied his nervous face. He looked over and their eyes met. They both blushed, but didn't pull their hands away. 

Throughout the entire challenge, he would squeeze her hand gently anytime something scary happened. Harry accioed his broom and flew off into the sky as everyone in the stands cheered. Thea and her friends stood to try and get better views, watching as Harry sped away out of sight towards the castle.

"Good lord, look how far off he's going!" Hermione yelled nervously. "What if something bad happens? What if he falls, o-or the dragon catches up?" She picked at the skin around her fingers nervously, her head whipping in all different directions to try and get a view of her best friend.

"He's going to be okay. He'll make it. He has to." Thea said in an attempt to comfort her friend. She looked over at Neville, worry written all over her face. 

He laced his fingers with Thea's, his hand shaking slightly. After a long high-speed chase around the castle, Harry was able to dip down and snatch the golden egg, ending the challenge. 

Thea and her friends jumped up and cheered, hugging and screaming excitedly. Harry had done it, and he completed the challenge in the shortest amount of time. 

The challenge had been exhausting and terrifying, but Harry was safe, and Thea had experienced something beautiful with Neville that looked to be the start of something more.


	8. Something Special

The weeks following the first challenge had treated Thea and her friends quite well. Harry and Ron had made up completely. 

Ron finally came to his senses after he realized Harry would never willingly put himself in a situation like that. 

Everyone had been keeping up with their crazy amounts of homework pretty decently, which had them all feeling confident about their grades. 

The best thing for Thea, however, was the fact that Neville had become much more confident in himself when he was around her. 

Ever since the moment they had held hands, Neville had been much more forward with Thea. It was like the barrier holding them back from being affectionate had been torn down. He would always find adorable ways to touch her somehow. 

He would sit so close to her on the couch in the common room that their legs were always pressed up against each other. If they were walking down the halls together, he would make sure their fingers touched whenever they could. 

Any physical contact Thea had with him sent sparks flying through every inch of her body. 

She couldn't believe the 180 he had taken with her. He was so much more confident that he would look her in the eyes every time they spoke, and he never looked away. 

Their attraction was magnetic, and everyone around them knew it. 

Thea's feelings for him were at an all-time high, and she was desperate for him to make another move or take the relationship further.

"What do you think this meeting is about?" Ron asked his friends nervously. The Gryffindors had been summoned by Professor McGonagall to a third floor classroom one afternoon after their History of Magic lesson. 

Thea and Hermione shrugged. They entered the room to see rows of benches on either side, with McGonagall standing in between.

"Ah, finally. Please, take a seat. Boys on one side and girls on the other. Quickly, please." she said, directing everyone to a seat. Hermione and Thea sat next to a Gryffindor second year, directly across from Ron, Harry, and Neville. 

Thea looked over at Neville and smiled, and he rolled his eyes jokingly and smiled back. McGonagall cleared her throat and a hush fell over the room.

"Welcome, everyone, welcome. As you all know, one of the greatest traditions of the Triwizard Tournament is the Yule Ball, a tradition that has been around for centuries. It is a chance for students from the three participating schools to come together and socialize." 

Everyone looked around the room with wide eyes. So that's why the item requirement list this year stated dress clothes, Thea thought to herself. 

"On Christmas Eve night, the ball will be held excitedly in the Great Hall." McGonagall continued, her eyes like daggers cutting through the whispers. 

"And since it is a ball after all, I have called you here to teach you how to ballroom dance. It is crucial that you do not make a fool of yourselves in front of our guests." 

The students erupted in a collective groan, though it seemed to be louder on the boys side.

"I love ballroom dancing." Hermione said happily, her eyes darting quickly across the room to Ron and back. "I think it's quite beautiful when it's with the right person." 

Thea's own eyes immediately went to Neville at these words, but he was listening intently to McGonagall and didn't see.

"Mr. Weasley." McGonagall said calmly. "Since you and Mr. Potter seem to have so much to say about this, why don't you come up here with me and demonstrate?" 

Ron's face turned beet red, and everyone suppressed giggles and laughs as he got up painfully slow, making his way to the center of the room. 

Fred and George whooped and hollered for him, making everyone laugh and causing Ron to turn even redder. McGonagall then attempted to get Ron to hold onto her waist and dance with her, and at this point, even Thea couldn't hold back her laughter. 

They moved stiffly around the room for a few seconds before Ron pulled away, completely embarrassed. McGonagall scolded him, but there was a glimmer of humor in her eyes. 

"Alright everybody, please choose a partner from the opposite side of the room and let's get practicing." Nobody dared to move. Everyone was too afraid to start, afraid of embarrassing themselves the way Ron had just done. And then Thea saw movement. 

She looked up to see Neville standing, the only one in the room besides McGonagall. Her heart fluttered in her chest. Neville looked over at her and winked, and Thea could feel her cheeks heat up. 

After a few awkward moments of just Neville standing, everyone slowly got up one by one and found a partner. Before Thea could ask Neville to be hers, a third year girl with dark blonde hair had already asked him. 

She cursed herself silently. She should have gotten up sooner. She looked over at Neville and they both shrugged, so she found another partner and continued on.

"Hey, Thea." came Neville's voice from down the hall. He had stayed behind to talk to McGonagall, so Thea had left to head back to Gryffindor Tower with Ron, Harry, and Hermione, but about halfway, she stopped and decided to wait for Neville to finish walking. 

She turned to see him jogging towards her. His robes swished above his ankles, too short for him now that he had gotten so tall over the summer. Thea felt butterflies in her stomach as he approached her, his cheeks slightly tinged pink.

"Look at you, Mr. Ballroom Dancer!" Thea teased as they walked together back to their dorms. He laughed loudly, the sound filling Thea's ears beautifully. 

"Who would have thought you would be the first one up there? I thought it was cute." she said, smiling as he playfully bumped her shoulder with his.

"Oh, you didn't know? I'm a professional, actually. No one could beat my skills, if I'm being quite honest." He smiled down at her as he joked, and their eyes met, sending electric shocks through her veins once again. 

"Speaking of ballroom dancing, I was just wondering..." He trailed off, rubbing his lips together nervously.

"What's up?" Thea asked, feeling her heart rate quicken.

"I was, uh...I was wondering if you wanted to be my date to the Yule Ball." Thea's mouth went dry and her heart was beating so fast she was worried it would tear out of her chest. 

She smiled and looked up at him, feeling the butterflies once again.

"I'd love to, Neville."

* * *

Christmas Eve had arrived, and Thea had never felt more nervous in her life. She was about to go to a dance, with Neville, the boy she's loved since they first met, as his date! 

As soon as they got back to Gryffindor Tower the day he asked her, Thea sprinted to her dorm to tell Hermione. They had freaked out together, Hermione screaming that she just knew he was going to do it. 

Thea had been nervous ever since, but now that the day had arrived, she felt like she was going to vomit any minute.

"Oh, Thea, you look stunning!" Hermione cried as the girls got ready for the ball. Thea had chosen to wear a floor length maroon gown with a sweetheart neckline, capped sleeves, and a pattern of jewels going from the bust to the waist. She wore matching kitten heels, and her hair fell down her back in loose curls. She wasn't one to dress up, but this was a ball, and she wanted to feel good on her date.

"Do you think Neville's going to like it?" Thea asked nervously, flattening the material with her hands and checking herself in the mirror. 

She was wearing light makeup, with some sparkling eye shadow, mascara and a hint of blush, as well as a light red lipstick. Hermione giggled behind her.

"Honestly, I think he might faint when he sees you. He's completely smitten, and seeing you in that gown will drive him crazy. His cheeks will probably turn the same colour as your gown." Thea felt her cheeks burn from the compliment. 

She turned to look at her best friend, wearing a gorgeous periwinkle blue dress and heels. Her hair had been pinned delicately behind her head, and she also wore very light makeup. She was absolutely stunning.

"I still can't believe he asked me." Thea said incredulously, turning to add the finishing touches to her makeup. The ball was going to start in 15 minutes, so the girls were preparing to leave. 

"I know we're great friends and stuff, but...I don't know. I'm still shocked." Hermione looked at her sympathetically.

"Thea, I'm pretty sure he's in love with you. I don't think any of us were surprised to hear it. Anyway, let's go. If we don't leave now, we'll be late." 

As Thea and Hermione made their way to the Great Hall, Thea felt her stomach turning with fear. What if he hated her dress, or her makeup? What if he didn't want to go with her anymore because she was overdressed? 

Her nerves were getting the best of her, and she refused to let them ruin her night, so she took some deep breaths to calm herself as much as she could. 

The two girls reached the main staircase and as they made their way down slowly, Thea spotted Neville waiting for her. He turned at exactly the right moment and their eyes met, and it was as if time stopped. His eyes grew so wide she was afraid they would fall out of his head. 

Thea's heart nearly stopped looking at him. He was wearing black dress robes, with a simple white button-up shirt and white bowtie underneath. His curls had been brushed out and pushed away from his face. 

Thea walked down the stairs towards him, feeling like a princess making her way to the prince. As she reached the bottom, Neville had walked over to meet her, and the expression on his face made Thea's heart swoon.

"I...you...wow." Neville said incoherently. His cheeks were the same shade of pink as Thea's. "I mean, you know how beautiful you are already, but...this dress..." Thea's breath caught in her throat at his words.

"I could say the same about you. You look absolutely incredible, Neville. Do you even know how handsome you are?" He blushed and looked into her eyes and they both giggled nervously. The tension around them was sweet and nerve wracking.

"Well, should we head inside then?" Neville asked, holding his arm out for her. Thea took it and they started walking towards the Great Hall. 

They entered and stood along the entrance of the Great Hall, watching and applauding as the four champions made their way through the doors and to the floor for the first dance. After it was over, Thea and Neville sat down at a table with Ron and Harry, along with their dates, the Patil twins. Ron's younger sister Ginny sat next to him, her date a third year Gryffindor boy they didn't know very well. 

Hermione and her date, Viktor Krum, were also there. Thea could see Ron's eyes darting between Hermione and Krum, an angry look on his face. 

Hermione watched as Thea and Neville sat down, Neville pulling out Thea's chair for her.

"Don't you two look adorable! Neville, you look great!" she said happily. Neville beamed at her.

"Thank you Hermione, you do as well. But I'm nothing tonight compared to Thea. Do you see her right now? Seriously, I don't know how I got her to agree to come with me." he said timidly, looking down at his empty plate. 

Thea exchanged a look with Hermione, both trying to hide their smirks after what he had just said.

The group enjoyed dinner, eating, drinking, and laughing as they always did when they were together. When it was time to dance, the tables had been cleared away and a large dance floor had appeared. 

A slow song started playing as couples made their way to the dance floor.

"Would you like to dance?" Neville asked, suddenly more nervous than he had been in a long time. Thea nodded and he took her hand, guiding her to the dance floor. 

They stood there for a minute awkwardly, before he stepped closer, closing the gap between them. 

She looked up at him, his beautiful green eyes focused on her. Even with her heels on, she was so much shorter than him. He reached his left arm out towards her waist.

"Is it alright if I...?" Thea nodded, and felt his large hand press gently on the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. Neville reached to grab her other hand, and they started to sway gently. His hand was sweaty in hers, but she didn't care. 

She watched him as they moved around. He had closed his eyes and was silently mouthing the counting, wanting his dancing to be perfect. 

She giggled and felt her stomach doing backflips. Of all the cute things he had done over the years, this was definitely at the top of the list. 

He opened his eyes and looked down at her. "What happened, did I do something wrong? Did I hurt you?" She shook her head, feeling his fingers loosen on her back.

"No, everything's perfect." He blushed again. "I just thought you looked really cute."

"You're making it hard to concentrate on the dancing. I can't dance when I'm nervous." They laughed together and continued dancing, Neville dipping her as the song ended. 

The night continued on with heavy dance music from the band The Weird Sisters, and Thea had the time of her life dancing with her friends. 

After nearly 10 songs in a row, she turned to find Neville, feeling exhausted. He had moved off to the sidelines, too insecure to dance around, but stood watching her and smiling. She strode over to him confidently.

"Do you want to go grab something to drink?" she asked over the loud music. "It's really stuffy in here, I could use some air." Thea took his hand as they walked out of the Great Hall, grabbing a drink from the bar and turning to sit on the staircase. 

Thea sat down, Neville sitting so close beside her that her thigh was flat against his. They sat in silence for quite a few minutes, before it was broken by Neville's soft voice.

"You know, I'm really glad you said yes to coming with me." he said, taking a long sip from his drink. "I was really worried you would have said no." Thea turned her head to look at him in the dim light. 

His curls had fallen around his face again, looking messy against his black-tie attire. She noticed that they were the only two out in the hallway.

"If you hadn't asked me, I wouldn't have had a date. There was no one else I wanted to go with." He turned his head and their eyes met. 

His pupils were wide, probably mirroring Thea's. Her heart slammed against her chest as he opened his mouth to speak.

"There was no one else I wanted to ask either." He reached down and took her hand, grasping it gently. He looked up into her eyes. "I'm crazy about you, Theadora." 

Thea felt all the air in the room being sucked out. Hearing her full name coming from him felt so right. She had never felt more connected to that name before today. And to hear that sentence from the boy she loved felt like she was floating up in the clouds. 

"I've been wanting to tell you how I felt for years, but I've been so afraid. I wasn't sure if you even felt the same way, and I didn't want to lose our friendship. The first moment I saw you I was so drawn to you. But I held myself back from saying anything because I didn't think you could like a guy like me." He looked away, but Thea squeezed his hand, forcing his eyes back up.

"Neville, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that." she said, causing him to breathe out a sigh of relief. "Ever since I met you, I haven't stopped thinking about you. It's funny, actually, that you said that about ruining our friendship. I was terrified that if I told you how I felt, it would scare you away and we would never be friends again." 

Neville's expression softened at her words, his breathing speeding up. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"You're the most special person I've ever met." he said, running his thumb gently over her hand. His eyes looked into hers deeply, and he hesitated before speaking again. 

"Remember in first year when my potion blew up in Snape's class and you sat with me in the hospital wing?" Thea smiled, remembering that moment. It was the first real conversation they had.

"Yeah, I do. I remember after you left the classroom, I literally could not focus on my work anymore and I ran out of there so fast at the end of the lesson that I don't know how I didn't fall and break my neck." Neville laughed, his eyes glistening.

"I knew that day that you weren't just being nice to me for the sake of making me feel better. I was so glad you cared to stay." She blushed and looked up into his eyes as he continued talking. 

"When I decided that I was going to ask you to the dance, I actually went to speak to Hermione about it." Thea's eyes widened in shock. 

"I was worried that you would laugh at me for asking or think I was an idiot, and I know she's your best friend, so I wanted her advice. She actually told me that day that you like me too." He smirked as Thea's jaw dropped. 

She could not believe her best friend had ratted her out! Honestly though, she was kind of glad. 

"It actually didn't help at first because I thought she was just playing with my feelings. But hearing you actually admit it just makes it all real, and I never thought that was possible. So, I was wondering if...you would be my girlfriend, Theadora?" 

Thea screamed internally. She could not believe he had just asked her that. She had dreamt of a day like this for years, but it was unfolding in front of her beyond her wildest expectations.

"Yes, Neville, absolutely yes." Her heart exploded as he smiled one of the most genuine smiles she had seen on his face in a while. He shook his head slightly in disbelief, before a look of nerves shadowed his face once again.

"Can I...um...can I kiss you?" he asked in a shaky voice. Thea felt her palms clam up and her heart stop. Her stomach was flipping so hard she feared he could see it. 

She could not believe the boy sitting here in front of her was the same boy she had met all those years ago. He was so confident in what he was doing and saying to her. 

She nodded and watched as Neville brought his hand up to her cheek, cupping it gently. They both closed their eyes as he leaned in, and Thea felt fireworks exploding as his lips touched hers. 

She felt herself melting as they kissed for a few moments, the world around her fading away. She leaned closer to him as his thumb gently caressed her cheek. They pulled away, faces bright red and eyes wide. 

Their moment of awkward tension faded as they broke out into laughter, and Thea lay her head on his shoulder. She had no idea she could ever feel this happy. 

Neville laced his fingers with hers, and the new couple sat together, listening to the muffled sounds of the music, enjoying their first few moments as boyfriend and girlfriend.


	9. Together At Last

The Christmas holidays at Hogwarts had been such a beautiful experience. It was Thea's first Christmas with a boyfriend, something she never saw happening during her time at Hogwarts. 

Neville had made sure that everything was perfect for her, including gifts and decorations that he attempted to put up for her in the common room. 

Ever since their relationship had become official, Neville had turned into a completely different person. He was so confident in the things he did and said and the way he treated her, and Thea was on cloud nine. 

She loved how he would hold her hand as often as he could, and he would even carry her books for her if they got too heavy, although that would usually come after an argument from Thea. 

The first couple months of their relationship were perfect. Everyone around them expressed how happy they were to see them together, and Thea could not believe how happy she was.

"Are you nervous about your first Valentine's with your boyfriend?" Hermione asked in a teasing voice. It was February 10th, and Thea had been thinking nonstop about Valentine's Day. 

Having someone to spend the holiday with did not feel real to her at all.

"Yes I am, and please stop joking about it. I'm terrified that it won't be good for him. Hermione, he's such a romantic that I'm afraid anything I do won't be good enough. I want it to be perfect."

"Hey, calm down." Hermione said in a soothing voice. "Did you forget how crazy he is about you? You could pick a single tiny flower from a garden to give to him and he would keep it for the rest of his life." Thea laughed, seeing that exact scenario play out in her head. 

"Just relax and I promise it'll be a good day." Thea felt a bit of the nervous weight from her shoulders lift. She knew that the day would be perfect regardless of what they did because they would be together.

* * *

February 14th had arrived, and Thea was a bundle of nerves. Neville had been constantly hinting that he had plans for them, but he refused to tell Thea anything. As she got dressed, she looked over at the nightstand holding Neville's gift. 

She had bought him a cheesy little card that she wrote a long message in. The card had been placed atop a box of chocolate frogs of all different flavors, which were Neville's favorite chocolates. Along with the chocolates, she had bought him a book he had hinted about wanting a couple months ago. 

Thea didn't want to overwhelm their first Valentine's Day with gifts, but she still wanted him to be happy and feel appreciated. 

She checked her outfit in the mirror one last time. Thea had chosen to wear her favorite denim jacket over a simple black dress and nude pantyhose. Opting for comfort, she wore sleek black trainers. She had curled her hair the way she had the day of the Yule Ball, knowing how much Neville loved it, and chose to wear a bit of mascara and blush. 

She grabbed Neville's gift and her wand, stuffing it inside her jacket, and headed out. Neville had told her the night before that he would meet her inside the main doors of the school. 

As she reached the bottom of the Gryffindor staircase, her heart soared as she saw Neville standing alone, waiting for her arrival.

"Hi." she said, startling him. He turned to look at her and his eyes grew.

"Happy Valentine's, love." he said, wrapping her in a sweet hug. He had been holding a bouquet of 13 red roses wrapped up in a gorgeous purple linen that he handed to Thea delicately. 

She sniffed them, the gorgeous aroma flooding her nostrils and filling her lungs. Roses were her favorite flowers, but she had never told Neville that before. She didn't know how he figured it out, but it made her heart flutter with happiness. 

Thea's heart rate quickened as he gave her a kiss before turning towards the door. She noticed he was holding a small picnic basket in his other hand. 

"I'm realizing now I should have told you to wear a coat..." he said guiltily, looking down at her dress and thin jacket. He quickly pulled out his wand. "Accio coat!" he called, watching as his coat came flying to his hand and he put the basket down, wrapping the coat around her arms.

"Neville, why are we going outside? It's freezing!" He looked down at her, a glimmer in his eye.

"Just wait." was all he said as he turned to push the door open. The cold air hit them like a brick wall and he grabbed her hand and off they ran. 

Thea smiled as he led her down carefully to Hagrid's hut. She silently reminded herself to thank Hagrid for allowing them to celebrate in his home. 

Neville stepped ahead of her, opening the door and gesturing his arm for her to go in. "Alright, darling, come on in." 

Thea gasped as she saw the transformed hut. The fireplace had been burning, warming the room comfortably and lighting it up in a dim orange glow. 

The table had been covered by a red tablecloth, candles, and two sets of dinnerware. There was heart-shaped confetti thrown all across the table, and a string with the words "Happy Valentine's Day" had been hung across the wall above the fireplace. Thea's heart nearly exploded in her chest looking at what Neville had done for her.

"Neville, I don't even know what to say...this is so beautiful." She nearly felt tears welling up in her eyes, and she crossed over to him to wrap him in her arms. 

They broke apart and sat down, Neville pulling her chair out for her, and they spent the next couple hours laughing and talking, Neville holding Thea's hand lovingly. 

They exchanged gifts, Thea's heart melting the entire time. Along with the flowers, he had made her another gorgeous card, and had gotten her a pair of warm fuzzy socks. She blushed at the fact that he remembered she had mentioned needing another pair, and that she loved fuzzy socks. It was such a small gesture that meant so much.

"There's something else in there." he said, motioning towards the bag. Thea reached in and pulled out a small box. She opened it and felt her heart melting once again as she pulled out a delicate silver bracelet, a single flower pendant sitting along the band. 

"It's a chrysanthemum." Neville said, reaching over to clasp the bracelet around her wrist. "It symbolizes loyalty and happiness. Pretty self-explanatory, I guess." Thea released a breath of wonder looking down at the gorgeous gift.

"Neville, you didn't have to. This is too much. I didn't..."

"I don't need anything because I have you. And I just wanted to show you that you deserve nothing but the best." Neville opened his own gift and loved it, and Thea adored his excitement over his new book. He gushed over the card, reading it over and over again with a smile on his face. 

He looked at her and examined her face lovingly, smiling as she looked back at him.

"Thea, I can't thank you enough for being the person that you are." Thea blushed scarlet. "You know how insecure I am, and everything I've experienced, and you've never made me feel like I was less than enough. You make me want to be a more confident person, and I'm trying. For you. I want you to know-"

"I love you." Thea blurted out. Her eyes went wide and she felt her entire body freeze. Neville's eyes widened, his jaw dropping slightly. 

Oh my god. Why did I do that? She thought to herself, silently cursing her own words. 

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that." They sat in what felt like terribly awkward silence for a moment. Thea felt her heart sink to her stomach. She had scared him. She was ruining everything. 

She dared to look up at him, growing confused at the smirk on his lips.

"You know, I really wasn't looking forward to being the first one to always share my feelings." Thea's face burned again. Wait. Was he...? 

"I love you, Theadora. I've been in love with you from the minute I laid eyes on you." Thea's head swirled at his words. 

"You know, I've dealt with a lot in my life that I don't talk about. And then with the way Snape and Malfoy and everyone bullies me, I find it so hard to see my worth sometimes. But you. Not only do you see my worth, but you force me to see it for myself. You're changing my life." 

Thea couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was worth more than she could ever imagine. His vulnerability and his willingness to share this with her was the most beautiful thing in the world. 

Her palms were clammy and her legs felt like Jell-O, but she stood up, gesturing for him to do the same. He stood in front of her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, his resting loosely around her waist. She looked up into his eyes, seeing nothing but love and appreciation.

"You're worth so much more than you give yourself credit for. You deserve nothing but the best too, and I'll be damned if I don't do everything in my power to give you that." He shook his head, a small smile on his lips. 

He leaned down and kissed her gently, sending butterflies through her stomach and up into her throat. 

They stayed like that for a few moments, enjoying each other and the beautiful relationship they were creating.

* * *

Thea's head was still reeling over the events of Valentine's even after days had passed. She still could not believe that she and Neville had said I love you to each other. 

Thea didn't even care if people thought they were moving too fast. She was sure about her feelings, and she didn't want to waste any time because she was too busy caring about what other people thought. 

Everything with Neville felt like a dream. He made sure that she felt happy and loved every minute of the day, and she did the same for him. 

Thea couldn't believe that she could just hold his hand in the corridors, or sit wrapped in his arms on the couch in the common room. Everything was as perfect as it could be. 

A week later, Thea and her friends waited patiently to see how Harry would prepare for the second task. It was happening in just a few days, and everyone was nervous to see what would happen.

"I think I've just helped Harry with the task!" Neville said happily as he climbed through the portrait and into the Gryffindor Common Room. 

Thea was working on some homework at a table off to the side, and was caught off guard at Neville's outburst. She had been sitting in the quiet by herself for so long that she had nearly forgotten where she was. 

Neville crossed the room to her, kissing the top of her head before sitting on the chair across from her. "I really think I did it, love!" Thea smiled. She loved when Neville was happy.

"Where were you guys? I haven't seen you all day."

"Library." Neville said, pulling his books out from his bag and laying them on the table. He placed his wand next to the stack, but picked it back up to distract his excited hands. 

"He said something about needing to breathe underwater for an hour. I'm guessing that's something to do with the second task? Anyway, I told him about something I had seen in one of the Herbology books Professor Moody gave me the other day that I think could help him."

"Wait," Thea interrupted, confused. "Did you say breathe underwater? For an HOUR?" Neville nodded.

"He didn't really tell me what that meant, he was a bit rude to me actually. But I told him about the Gillyweed I had read about and he's going to try it. I think it's going to work." Thea smiled warmly at her boyfriend.

"You know, Neville, you really need to start showing more pride in your Herbology talents. You've probably just saved him for this round." Neville smiled back at her, his cheeks turning red.

* * *

"Oh God. This was a bad idea." Neville said nervously, his voice wavering with fear. The second task was about to start, and Thea and Neville stood on the dock in the Black Lake waiting with Harry. 

They were told that the champions would have one hour to find some sort of possession of theirs in the lake, and everyone was incredibly nervous. Thea held his hand comfortingly, pretending she wasn't just as worried.

"Neville, relax. You know what you've read, and Harry trusts you. He's going to be okay." She kissed his hand before turning her head to search through the crowded dock. The champions were lining up at the edge, Harry quickly stuffing the Gillyweed into his mouth and chomping down. 

"Where the hell are Ron and Hermione? They're supposed to be here by now." The moment Thea said that, the starting gun was shot and the champions dove into the water. 

Cedric, Fleur and Viktor had all come back up to the surface to get some air and charm themselves before starting their journey down, but Harry was nowhere to be seen. 

Thea felt the blood drain from her face, and Neville pulled his hand from hers and turned around, placing both hands on the side of his face in worry. 

She could hear him whispering "I've killed Harry Potter! Oh God, I've killed him!" over and over again. She reached to try and comfort him when she heard a splash from the water. 

She whipped her head around in time to see Harry soar into the air, his feet transforming into fins, before splashing back down to start the challenge. Thea joined in the screams of excitement from the crowd, and turned Neville around to hug him.

"Oh my god. He's alive?" he shouted, wrapping his arms around Thea tightly and jumping up and down. She laughed and nodded, looking up at him.

"You're a genius, love." He smiled and kissed her before they both turned back to watch the challenge unfold. 

Nearly half an hour later, Cedric broke through the surface carrying his girlfriend, Cho Chang. He was the first to complete the challenge. 

Fleur had been the first one up, but she came up empty handed because of an injury and needed to forfeit. 

A few minutes later, Cedric was followed by Viktor Krum, who had transformed his head into a shark, holding Hermione, who was gasping for air. 

Thea shrieked and ran over to her, helping her up on the platform and wrapping her in towels.

"What the hell were you doing under there?" she yelled, rubbing Hermione's arms to warm her up. "Who in god's name came up with this competition?" Hermione coughed, water spluttering out of her mouth.

"Ron's still down there. He's Harry's possession." Thea and Neville exchanged a look of worry and confusion. 

After nearly another half an hour, Harry finally broke through the surface, pulling Ron and a young blonde girl with him to the dock. 

Everyone was pulled out of the water, the crowd's deafening cheers surrounding them.

"Ma soeur! Ma soeur!" came a tearful scream through the crowd on the dock. Thea and her friends turned to see Fleur Delacour running towards the young girl, wrapping her in a towel and holding her close. 

"Thank you, Harry! You've saved my sister!" Harry coughed and shivered, but nodded to Fleur and accepted the hug she offered him.

"Harry! Ron! Are you guys alright?" Neville called, handing them both blankets and towels. Thea stayed sitting with Hermione on the ground, listening to Harry recount what he had seen. 

As the crowds dissipated and everyone was taken back to the school grounds, Thea couldn't believe her ears as Harry told his friends about his experience. 

She held onto Neville tightly as they all made their way back to the Gryffindor common room. The first two tasks had been completely unexpected, and Thea had a bad feeling that the third one was going to be the worst yet.


	10. One Of Our Own

"Alright, class, quickly please. Wands out everyone." Professor McGonagall said from the front of the classroom. 

It was April, just after the Easter holidays, and the fourth years were learning some of the hardest Transfiguration they had ever been taught. 

Thea sat with Neville at a table in the middle of the room beside Ron and Harry, Hermione sitting at the next table over with Parvati Patil. 

Behind Thea, Draco Malfoy sat with his minion, Goyle, snickering about something stupid. Thea ignored them, continuing to pay attention to her teacher. 

"Today, class, we will be learning how to transform this small rat," McGonagall pointed to the rodent beside her, "into a teacup." The class groaned. Cross-species switching was the most difficult kind of transfiguration. 

All around her, Thea's classmates murmured the incantation unhappily. Neville took his turn, and somehow managed to add a tail and paws to the teacup, but not much else. He grunted in frustration.

"How the hell does Hermione do it so easily?" he asked, watching her switch the rat back and forth with ease. 

He looked down at his wand, as if it was a foreign object he had never seen before. He threw it down on the desk in front of him in anger. "Why am I so useless at this?" 

Thea bumped her shoulder with his, causing him to turn and look at her. She could see the insecurity in his face. She smiled warmly at him, trying to transfer some of her positivity onto him.

"Babe, you're doing fine. So many people are having just as much trouble as you." The corner of his mouth turned up in a sad smile, and he picked his wand back up gingerly. "Just keep trying, you're going to get it."

"Probably won't, pathetic loser." came a steely voice from behind. Neville's whole body stiffened. 

Thea whipped her head around, her eyes slit as she looked at Draco. He smirked back up at her menacingly.

"I'm sorry, did you have something you wanted to say?"

"Love, don't. Leave it." Neville whispered from beside her. Draco snickered.

"Yeah. Your little boyfriend's pathetic. Can't even change a little rat in class, can he? Blimey. Should have been him instead of his parents." 

Thea's chest tightened with anger and her hands shook. This boy was vile. The way he treated everyone around him, not just Neville, was absolutely disgusting. 

Before she even realized what she was doing, Thea's fist was in his face, punching him in the nose hard and knocking him back. He hit the ground with a squealing cry. His hand was instantly covered in blood.

"Thea!" Neville said incredulously, turning to look at Malfoy on the ground with wide eyes. Thea stared at her hand as if it had a mind of its own.

"What in the world is going on here?" McGonagall said, robes flying behind her as she stormed to their desk. Thea realized the whole class was silent and staring over at her. 

"Mr. Malfoy, hospital wing. Now." Draco got up, crying, and ran out of the room with a whine. 

Many of the Gryffindors in the room hid giggles and snickers behind their hands. "Ms. Bassitt. Enlighten me, please. Why are we punching other students?" McGonagall asked, a mixture of anger and humor on her face. 

Everyone knew she hated Draco just as much as the next person, but she had to act professionally.

"Respectfully, Professor, you didn't hear what he said. I don't feel comfortable repeating it but I'm sorry. I don't regret doing that." Thea said defiantly, her hand on Neville's shoulder. McGonagall looked back and forth between the two of them.

"I hope you know that I will be speaking to the Headmaster about this. Everyone get back to work now, please." she ordered, turning to head back to her post at the front of the room. The rest of the class was spent in silence. 

The bell rang, breaking the quiet and dismissing the students. Thea picked up her books, stuffing them in her school bag, and followed Neville out of the room.

"Neville, I'm so sorry." she said, reaching for his hand. "I didn't mean to. He just...what he said...it's not right." He chuckled softly, allowing Thea to hold his hand.

"I'm not mad at all. Well, maybe a bit at myself for not standing up on my own." He brought Thea's hand up to his mouth, kissing the knuckles she had punched Malfoy with. 

"Theadora, I love how much you stand up for me. You don't even know anything about what he said but you still felt the need to protect me. I don't know how I got so lucky." 

Thea smiled sympathetically, thankful that he wasn't angry at her. She knew she had no business reacting that way. She also knew that Malfoy said stupid things on purpose because he knew he would get a reaction. 

But seeing the look on Neville's face when Draco spoke just made her so angry. She loved him, and she promised that she would do anything to protect him.

* * *

The end of term came quickly, but not without a whirlwind of emotions following suit. Final examinations had been stressful on Thea, but it was nothing compared to what came after. 

The third and final challenge of the Triwizard Tournament had ended in a way no student or professor could have possibly foreseen: the death of Cedric Diggory and the return of the Dark Lord. 

Thea could never get those images out of her head. Harry returning through a portkey, his body thrown protectively over Cedric's lifeless one. 

The sound of Amos Diggory's screams as he cried over his son's body. The sound of Harry's own screams as he warned everyone that Voldemort was back. The look on everyone's faces as the realization set in. 

Even in her wildest dreams, Thea could never have imagined her Hogwarts experience turning out this way. 

All the excitement about the tournament was destroyed as quickly as it had been built up. The final meal of term in the Great Hall was not the fun celebration Thea was used to having. 

The entire Hufflepuff table sat in silence, each student starting to feel the grief of losing one of their own.

"Dearest students," Dumbledore started, making his way to the podium. "Tonight, we join in mourning over the loss of our dear Cedric. He was a man of grace, honor, and strength." 

The sobs from all over the hall intensified. Thea felt hot tears leak from her own eyes, and her heart skipped a beat as Neville gently kissed the side of her forehead. 

Dumbledore continued his speech honoring Cedric as well as he could. No one ate as the mountains of food appeared on the tables in front of them.

"Babe, you need to eat something or you'll get sick." Neville said, trying to pass Thea a warm dinner roll. She shook her head, looking up at him with sad eyes.

"I can't, Neville. Not now." She smiled weakly as she watched him wrap the roll in a napkin and place it in his robe pocket for later. 

As she sat in the quiet common room with her friends after the dinner, Thea couldn't tear herself away from Neville. After what they had all seen, she needed to feel his hand in hers. 

She needed to feel his arms around her, keeping her safe. She needed his protection, and he needed hers.

"Mate." Ron started gently. They all sat on the couches around the fireplace, Harry in the middle wrapped in a blanket. He had a blank stare on his face, any trace of emotion gone. 

The common room had been cleared out, just Thea's group occupying the space. It felt cold and quiet. 

Ron swallowed and tried to continue as Ginny put her hand on Harry's shoulder comfortingly. "What did you see there? Where did you go?" Harry continued to stare forward into the fire. 

Thea felt Neville tighten his grip around her fingers. Their heads snapped as Harry broke his silence.

"I saw him. Voldemort. I fought him." Thea, Hermione, and Ginny exchanged worried looks. "He's back. He killed Cedric. And he wants to kill me." He finally broke his stare and looked at each of his friends individually. "It was awful."

"Harry, I'm so sorry." Ginny said quietly. "We're all here for you. Whatever you need." Harry nodded, appreciative of the constant support he receives from his friends. 

The group sat there together all night, no one wanting to leave for the dormitories. 

The next day, they had no choice but to get up as the Hogwarts Express was ready to take them back to London. 

Thea packed all her belongings and met Neville and her friends in the main hallway before heading over to Hogsmeade Station. Everyone was scared. They knew that something bad was coming.


	11. New in Town

Thea groaned and stomped away from her mother angrily. She couldn't handle anymore of this arguing.

"Theadora Bassitt, you listen to me this instant. You are not going back to that school! I don't know how many times we're going to go over this!" her mother shouted, running up the stairs after her. 

Thea turned into her bedroom and slammed the door, her belongings rattling on her desk from the force. 

She could not believe her parents. They were trying to keep her from going back to Hogwarts for fifth year. Trying to prevent her from seeing Neville and her friends. 

"Theadora, open this door right now. I'm warning you..." came her mother's angry voice from the other side of the door. Thea threw the door open with attitude and glared at her mother.

"I don't care what you have to say." she said defiantly. "I'm going. I need to be with Neville and my friends. We need to be together right now." Thea's mother huffed in response.

"It's too dangerous. You-Know-Who is back and everyone from the Ministry is warning students not to return. They've spent the whole summer warning us. How could you not care?"

"Oh my god! Mum! Stop!" Thea yelled, her frustration getting the better of her. "There is no safer place in the world right now than Hogwarts. I'm safer there than I am in my own god damn house! I'm going." 

Thea and her mother stared each other down for a few moments, their chests heaving angrily. 

This fight had been going on all summer long. Ever since Thea had returned from Hogwarts, her parents had been trying everything in their power to stop her from going back. 

Thea, Neville, Ron, and Hermione had written back and forth all summer, everyone's guardians saying the same thing. But Thea and her friends were too strong. They needed to go. 

August had come and gone, and Thea had made up her mind. She seethed as she packed her trunk angrily, not bothering to fold any of her clothes.

"Theadora, are you absolutely sure this is the right decision for you?" her mother asked, her voice slow and her eyes closed.

"I already told you. We're going. Whether or not you want to send me off is up to you. But you can't stop me from leaving." 

Thea's mother silently agreed, knowing there was not much else she could say to keep her daughter from leaving. 

September 1st rolled around, and Thea and her parents made their way to King's Cross in silence. They crossed to Platform 9 3/4, still not speaking, and Thea felt her spirits lift as she spotted her boyfriend standing close to the train. He was so handsome that her breath caught in her throat. He had cut his hair, had thinned out and had somehow grown even taller. 

She threw her trunk into the storage compartment, still holding onto her owl's cage, and ran through the crowds towards him. She called out his name, and as he turned, a bright smile grew on his face.

"Thea! Oh, thank god!" he said into her shoulder as she ran up and threw her arms around him. His voice shook with emotion. 

"I haven't heard from you in a couple days and I was worried that something happened. I've been so scared that you changed your mind about coming." She leaned on her tiptoes to kiss him passionately.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Neville. I love you." She nestled into his chest, breathing in his scent. They stood there for a few moments, before someone cleared their throat behind them. Thea broke away from Neville and turned to see her parents. 

Her face flushed and she stood watching in embarrassment as Neville shook her parents' hands awkwardly, introducing himself in the most polite way imaginable. 

This was not the way she had planned for Neville to meet her parents for the first time. 

"Okay, well, we should go. Bye guys! Love you!" she said awkwardly, pulling Neville away towards the train.

"Bye!" he called behind him to her parents. "Lovely to meet you!" Thea tugged his arm so that he stood inside the train door with her. Her face was red from embarrassment. 

She looked up at Neville, watching him suppress a smile, and they both cracked up. Before long, Thea was laughing so hard she had a stitch in her side.

"I cannot believe that just happened." she said incredulously. Neville just continued laughing and took her hand, leading her down to the compartment with her friends. Harry was sitting on the bench to Thea's left with Hermione and Ginny. 

Ron sat across from him with a blonde haired girl wearing crazy sparkly clothes and winged sunglasses. 

Neville sat down beside Ginny and Thea took her seat across from him, greeting all their friends excitedly. Thea had never been so happy to see all her friends in one room before today.

"Hello there." the girl beside Thea said, her voice mystical and far away. She held out her hand for Thea to shake. "I'm Luna Lovegood. Fourth year Ravenclaw." 

Thea smiled and introduced herself. Thea allowed herself to relax and enjoy the time with her friends as they made the all too familiar trip to the castle they call home.

* * *

The first few weeks of fifth year were not turning out the way Thea had hoped at all. The Dark Lord's return meant that new rules and restrictions had been placed on the castle. 

No student was allowed in the corridors after 8pm unless they were accompanied by a teacher. Weekend trips to Hogsmeade had been reduced to once per term, and students had to be back before dawn. 

The worst thing, though, was Dolores Umbridge. The Bitch from the Ministry, as Thea and her friends called her. She was the worst person Thea had ever met. 

She was the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, and she was terrible at it. DADA had been Thea's favorite subject at Hogwarts, but Umbridge was absolutely ruining it. 

Even after a month and a half of classes, no fifth year knew how to cast new defensive spells. She was forcing them to hide their wands in class and rely solely on the textbook. 

Harry had already gotten in so much trouble for defying her, and it was only getting worse. 

On top of being a terrible teacher, she had somehow overtaken Dumbledore as Headmaster. 

She was enacting all kinds of nonsense rules just to make students miserable. One of her "rules" was that boys and girls couldn't stand closer than 8 inches apart. What kind of stupid rule is that? This rule was forcing Neville and Thea apart as they were only allowed to be affectionate in their common room where she couldn't control what they did. 

Her rules were ruining everything, and Thea and her friends had had enough.

"Hey, I'll see you guys at the DA soon?" Harry asked as he passed his friends in the common room. Umbridge's lack of practical teaching left the students of Hogwarts needing more. Hermione had come up with the idea a couple weeks back to form their own union where the students would teach themselves defensive spells. 

She figured that since Harry had already used a lot of them, he could teach them. He was hesitant at first, but he's proven to be an exceptional teacher. 

They had called themselves Dumbledore's Army, using the discreet DA acronym when speaking in public.

"Yeah, we'll be there in half an hour." Neville said, placing his textbooks back in his bag. He and Thea had been studying in the common room together, books, quills, and parchment spread everywhere. 

Harry nodded in acknowledgement and headed out, ready to set up the room for the day's meeting. Neville adjusted his tie nervously as he looked over at Thea. 

"What if I didn't go? It wouldn't make that much of a difference, would it?" Thea looked at him worriedly. He looked so handsome in his school vest, the sleeves of his dress shirt hanging loosely on his arms. Her heart skipped a beat every time she looked at him.

"Neville, you're doing fine." She touched his hand gently. "I know you don't think you are, but it's not easy stuff and you've been improving every day." He sighed.

"Babe, I haven't gotten a single spell right. Remember last week when I nearly scorched your robes?" Thea giggled, but quickly shut herself up as she saw the look on her boyfriend's face.

"We're still learning, Neville. For some people it comes easier, and that's okay. It doesn't mean you're not good enough. Besides, you have your own strengths that other people wish they had, so what does it matter that it takes you a bit longer than someone else?" 

She stood up, grabbing her bag and walking around the table to lean next to him. She put her hand on his face, caressing his cheek with her thumb. 

"You will get there. Believe in yourself. Please." He looked up at her with sad eyes, before turning his head to kiss the inside of her hand. 

He stood up and grabbed his own belongings, and the two made their way over to the Room of Requirement for the day's practice.

"Alright, everyone, quiet down!" Harry called from the front of the room. The entire DA formed a crowd in front of him, ready for the day's lesson. Harry cleared his throat and continued. 

"Today, we're going to work on the Disarming Charm. This spell is used for knocking whatever's in your opponent's hand out. Use it wisely. Now, find a partner and try to knock your partner's wand out of their hands. I'll demonstrate. Hermione, if you will." 

He gestured for her to cross the room, holding her wand out in front of her. He swished his wand, yelled Expelliarmus! and the entire DA watched as Hermione's wand flew from her hand and into Harry's. Everyone muttered in surprise. Harry looked around and nodded, sending everyone on their way.

"What if I hurt you?" Neville asked nervously. He stood across from Thea, holding his wand up but actively avoiding using it. Thea gave him a sympathetic look.

"Love, you won't. I promise. If you want, I can go first." He nodded and stood up straight, holding his wand loosely in front of his chest. 

Thea relaxed her shoulders, swished her wand, and yelled out the incantation. Neville's wand flew across to her and she caught it, her heart beating in surprise. He applauded adorably.

"That was pretty hot, you know that?" Thea laughed, her face blushing scarlet. Neville rarely ever said things like that to her, but she loved when he did. He adjusted his position and focused on Thea. 

"Alright, my turn, I guess." He swished his wand and said the incantation with so little confidence that his own wand nearly fell out of his hands. His shoulders sunk as he looked up at Thea, embarrassed. She gave him an encouraging smile.

"You can do this, Neville. I know you can. You just need to be more confident with it." He looked into her eyes with that same sad look as before. 

"Just focus on me, love. Focus, and say the incantation as if I'm the only other person in the room. You'll do it." 

He nodded and repositioned himself. He swished his wand again, the sound of the incantation much louder and stronger, and Thea felt her wand tear from her hand. It flew right over to Neville and he caught it, eyes wide. 

Thea screamed in excitement, running over to hug him tightly. The group around them applauded as they enjoyed Neville's success. He works so hard all the time, and it was so amazing to see him succeed. 

Thea wrapped her arms around his neck, jumping up and down excitedly. "I told you! That was amazing!" He laughed in disbelief, wrapping one of his arms around Thea's waist and pulling her close. He kissed the side of her head lovingly.

"Thank you." was all he said. Thea snuggled into his side, her heart soaring as she watched everyone congratulate Neville. He didn't realize how much support he truly had, and how badly everyone wanted him to succeed.

"Look at how happy everyone is." Thea said, looking up into Neville's bright smile. "I've told you so many times. If you had even half the confidence in yourself that everyone around you has in you, maybe you would finally realize just how talented you are." 

Neville rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hide the blush that was growing on his cheeks and neck. 

Thea pulled away and crossed back to where she was standing, and the practicing continued. Neville's hex was thrown more and more accurately with each attempt he made, and Thea couldn't be more proud. 

The rest of the DA practice went better than it ever had, and Thea couldn't help but look forward to the next meeting.


	12. Opening Up

The DA had continued on, each spell they learned getting progressively harder and more complex. 

Neville had shown the most improvement out of every student there, and even Harry had given him a pat on the back and told him how great he was doing. 

The students felt a bit safer knowing they could defend themselves, and even though Umbridge was still a pain in the ass, things were starting to settle down. 

Thea and her friends were doing well in all their classes, she was happy, and her relationship with Neville was turning into something she never expected. Things were going pretty well for Thea. 

Christmas had come and gone, and the second term of fifth year was really going to heat up for the students. 

Their O.W.L.'s would be coming up before they knew it, and Thea and her friends spent every available minute studying.

"Hey, Thea, we missed you at breakfast." Ron said as he walked through the portrait door and into the common room. His mouth was stuffed with bacon, crumbs falling out as he spoke. He was followed by Fred and George, also stuffing their mouths with something from the breakfast table. 

"Hermione and Harry have just finished up as well, and I think I saw Neville, too."

"Yeah, I'm on my way down." Thea replied, swinging her backpack over her shoulders. "I just needed a quick review session before Potions. I'll see you in class!" she called over her shoulder, climbing through the portrait and heading down to the Great Hall. 

As she entered the Hall and made her way to the Gryffindor table, the sight in front of her made her stomach drop. Neville was sitting there by himself, his face white as a sheet and his eyes emotionless. He stared straight ahead, his plate empty and untouched. 

A copy of that morning's Daily Prophet sat on the table in front of him. Thea hurried over to him and threw one leg over the bench so she sat facing his side. 

"Babe, what's wrong? she asked, concern clouding her voice. Neville stayed facing forwards for a few moments before he swallowed and turned his head to Thea. Her body froze looking at the horrible expression on the boy she loved so much.

"Can we..." He started, his voice hoarse. "Can we go somewhere and talk?" Thea nodded, her nerves growing as she took his hand and helped him up from the table. 

They walked slowly out of the hall, before Neville gripped her hand tightly and whisked her away. 

Thea said nothing as he took her all around the school, up staircases and down corridors as they reached the wall space that hid the Room of Requirement. 

He spoke a few words and the massive door appeared, opening itself to the DA practice room. They walked through and he shut the door, casting a silencing spell on the room as the door slowly disappeared. 

He walked over to the mirror on the other side of the room and sat down, Thea following suit. She sat with her back against the wall so she could face him.

"Neville, you're scaring me." She watched his face as he reached down to grab her hands. He brought them up to his mouth to kiss them, then released them softly. 

He placed the newspaper he was reading earlier on his lap. The headline "Mass Breakout from Azkaban" was splayed across the top. 

Underneath, a picture of a woman with eccentric black hair being held back by chains roared up at them. The name "Bellatrix Lestrange" was written underneath it. Neville started to speak, his eyes never leaving the mirror in front of him.

"My parents, Frank and Alice Longbottom, were Aurors before I was born. They were part of the original Order of the Phoenix." Thea's breath hitched in her throat. He had never spoken about his parents before. This was a big deal. Neville turned his eyes to Thea, looking at her as he continued. 

"They were pretty outspoken against Vold- You-Know-Who." He stopped speaking and swallowed, his eyes welling up with tears. Thea scooted closer to him so she was sitting between his legs, and grabbed his hand. She laced her fingers in his.

"Neville, you don't have to tell me this, it's okay." Her heart hammered in her chest as he looked down at their hands, avoiding her eyes. He looked back up at her as a tear slid down his cheek.

"I need you to know." Thea just nodded and allowed him to continue. "When I was a baby, my parents were attacked and captured by his Death Eaters. They tried to get information out of my parents because the Death Eaters thought my parents knew where You-Know-Who was hiding. Bellatrix Lestrange," he gestured to the picture on the newspaper, "tortured them both with the Cr-cruciatus Curse." 

His voice broke, and he squeezed Thea's hand for comfort. "They wouldn't give in, so she kept going. It got so bad that they both became completely incapacitated. They've been at St. Mungo's since then, and I went to live with my grandmother." Thea felt her heart shatter. 

"I go and visit them whenever I can, but they don't really recognize me." He closed his eyes as he allowed more tears to fall down his face. 

Thea felt tears staining her own cheeks. He was in so much pain, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Neville..." She said, her voice barely a whisper. He swallowed once again.

"I don't feel any shame about this. I'm proud to be a Longbottom. It's just...not having my parents with me is hard, and not a lot of people know the truth. Obviously, you've heard the rumors. And now, the four Death Eaters involved have escaped from Azkaban. It's all over the news. People are going to find out"

"I'm so sorry." was all Thea could say. "If I could do anything to stop your pain, I would. Anything." 

Neville gripped her wrist and pulled so Thea was straddling his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her body close, his head resting on her chest.

"I needed you to know this. I had to tell you because I love you and I need you on my side. I didn't want you to have to find out from someone else." he said quietly as Thea ran her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck. 

"But I've been scared to tell you because I didn't want it to change how you see me." Thea's eyes widened and she pushed back from him, her hands gripping his shoulders.

"What? Neville, that could never happen. I am in love with you. You think telling me about your family is going to change that?" He shrugged, looking up with those sad eyes that he wore all too often. 

"You are the most courageous person I have ever met. Never in a million years would I ever judge you for something like this. In fact, I really appreciate that you're opening up to me about this, because now I can help you cope in any way you need. You don't have to go through this alone. Not while you have me." 

Neville pulled Thea back to him, needing her arms around him. They stayed that way for what felt like hours. Whatever Thea could possibly do to protect him, she would. A thousand times over.

* * *

Over the next few days, Neville was not himself. Thea couldn't bear seeing him this way, and she tried everything to help him feel better. He was barely eating or sleeping, and he would hardly talk to his friends during the day. 

He had completely reverted back to the shy child he was when Thea had first met him, keeping to himself and not saying much at all. 

He didn't spend time in the common room anymore, opting to stay in his dorm or the library when they had free time. Thea would try to sit with him as much as possible, but she felt him pulling away. 

Of course, he had every reason to feel the way he did. What he had told Thea was heart wrenching, and she knew he needed time on his own. 

She didn't want to force him to get better or talk to his friends because that would only make him pull away more.

"Hey, is Neville doing okay?" Ginny asked one afternoon. It was Saturday, nearly five days after Neville shared his story with Thea. She had opted to give herself the day to relax instead of doing homework, and was sitting by the fire reading her book. 

She turned to look at Ginny as she sat next to her and put her feet up. "He's been really different in the last couple days. He looks sad." She paused, as if she was afraid to keep talking. 

"Did you guys break up, or have a fight or something?" Thea shook her head and forced a smile.

"He's...going through something right now. I can't tell you because it's not my business to say, but he just needs some time. He'll be alright." 

Ginny examined her face, clearly not believing her words. However, she gave Thea a tight lipped smile and a pat on the shoulder.

"Well, let him know that we're all here for him, whenever." Thea smiled at her friend, grateful for their support. Ginny got up to head to her dorm, and Thea looked around the empty common room sadly. She realized she hadn't seen her boyfriend all day. 

She set her book down and grabbed her coat, running out of the common room. 

She had a feeling she knew where to find him. She ran down to the main hallway and out the doors, running through the rain across the grass. 

The door to the greenhouse was slightly ajar, the rain falling lightly inside the glass.

"Hi." she said quietly, entering the greenhouse slowly and closing the door behind her. Neville was sitting at the front desk, his back slightly towards her. 

He turned his head when he heard her voice, and a small smile broke onto his face. It was the first time she had seen him smile in days, and her heart tightened in her chest. He turned his body around to face her.

"How did you know I would be in here?" Thea shrugged, but couldn't help the smile from growing on her face. She started towards him and removed her jacket, letting the raindrops fall onto the rows of plants. 

She reached him and stood between his legs, looking at him. He was so tall that sitting on the little stool nearly put them at the same height. 

She kissed the tip of his nose, making him scrunch it up in the most adorable way.

"Well, this place is kind of like your safe haven, so I just had a feeling. I've seen how down you've been the last couple days. Plus, you don't think I know you better than anyone else?" He forced a smile. 

Thea reached out and put her hands on the sides of his neck, her thumbs on his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. 

"Look, Neville. Everything that you are going through now is awful, and I could never imagine how hard it is to deal with. And I want you to deal with it in the healthiest way possible, and as much as I would love to know what's going on in your head, I don't want you to ever feel pressured to talk to me. This is an impossible situation to have to go through. Whatever you need, I will give it to you. But please understand that I want to support you as much as I can. Even if that means sitting here with you in silence while you feel everything you need to feel." 

Thea stood in the quiet with him for a moment, listening to the rain falling against the glass, before he reached up and put his hand on her cheek, pulling her face down for her lips to meet his. 

He kissed her more passionately than he ever had, and it made Thea's head whirl. He pulled back and kissed her forehead before looking into her eyes.

"I love you more than anything, you know that right?" Thea nodded, her cheeks turning bright pink. Neville leaned forward and kissed her again. 

He pulled her in close and hugged her, the feeling of his warm embrace making the world melt away around them. 

They stayed like that for a few minutes, and as she pulled away, she saw him quickly reach up and wipe a tear from his face. 

Her heart sank, knowing that he was hurting so much. He turned his head and looked off to the side, taking in his surroundings. 

Neville loved plants, so the greenhouse was his favorite place in the school. It was such a little thing, but it always made him feel better. Anytime he was sad, upset, tired, excited, or calm, he was here. 

Thea watched him gaze aimlessly at the plants around him, and took a deep breath. She looked around and noticed a small portable radio perched atop the desk beside Neville. She pulled out her wand and aimed it at the radio, charming it on. 

A slow, romantic song played quietly, blending in gorgeously with the rain. 

Thea reached down and grabbed Neville's hands, attempting to pull him off the stool. He stood hesitantly, confused. He hadn't even noticed the music until a minute later. 

Thea stood holding his hands from arm's length, and tried to start swaying. Neville watched her, but remained still.

"Come on, dance with me." she said, lifting his arm up to twirl herself under it. He smiled briefly, but it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. But he started to move. 

He ever so slightly swayed his body from side to side in time with the music, and Thea felt her heart clench. 

He kept his head down, looking up at her from underneath his lashes every now and then, and tried to hide the smile that was forming. 

He suddenly pulled her close, their chests touching. He held one of her hands beside his heart, the other holding onto her hip. He allowed her free arm to sit gently around his shoulder. 

He leaned his forehead against hers and they swayed in the silence for a few minutes, both of them slightly cracking up but never laughing out loud. 

He reached their connected arms up and twirled her under it again, and this time they both laughed a bit louder. 

He took the opportunity to dip her the way he had when they danced at the Yule Ball, and soon they were both laughing so loudly that the sounds bounced off the glass walls and back to them. 

Neville pulled Thea back close to his chest again and kissed the top of her head before placing his cheek there and staying in that position.

"Thank you." he said quietly, and Thea could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "I really needed that." She smiled to herself and kissed his hand lovingly. 

She knew she couldn't take his hurt away. She couldn't magically make everything better. But she knew she had to try whatever she could to get him to smile. He deserved it more than anyone.


	13. We Need to Go

Neville's mood had drastically improved after their experience in the greenhouse. Thea knew that he was still hurting in silence, but he was able to start smiling and laughing again. 

He had stopped isolating himself from his friends, realizing it was much harder to heal alone. Each week, he improved more and more until he was almost back to his normal self. 

Thea couldn't help but feel unbelievably proud of him. Even with all this horror surrounding him, he managed to be strong and courageous. She admired him so much. 

He had more emotional endurance than anyone she knew, and it was something she looked up to greatly. 

Term had flown by, and before they knew it, it was time for Thea and her friends to sit for their O.W.L's. 

The next O.W.L. they had to sit was their Charms exam. Thea and her friends sat in the Great Hall, desks lined up and spread apart. 

She sat behind Neville, Hermione to her left, Ron to her right, and Harry directly behind her. 

The test had started extremely well, Thea being able to answer everything to near perfection. She felt calm and confident, and nothing could stop her now. 

Until the most peculiar buzzing sound turned everything upside down. 

Just as Thea looked up to investigate, hundreds of fireworks went off, the hall erupting into a kaleidoscope of colours. 

The students all jumped from their desks and ran to the sides of the room to watch as the fireworks destroyed their papers, desks, and quills. 

Students gasped and laughed as the Weasley twins flew in on their brooms, high-fiving in mid air before dropping even more fantastic fireworks. 

This was the most phenomenal prank Thea had ever witnessed. The students all received write-offs for that particular O.W.L, which signified the end of their testing.

"Alright, that may have been the most amazing thing I've ever witnessed." Neville laughed, his eyes wide in disbelief. Thea and Neville had joined their friends to walk back to the Room of Requirement, everyone laughing and screaming at the show they had just seen. 

They wanted to get another DA practice in before the end of the day, so they had a small window of time before curfew. As the students of the DA filed into the room, Harry began his announcements for the day. 

The students were to practice casting their Patronus charms, used to protect them against Dementors. Thea watched in wonder at all the Patronuses flying around the room. 

Hermione's otter swam in circles around the room, Luna Lovegood's hare hopped around curiously, and Seamus' fox crawled sneakily through the crowd. Thea had yet to produce a Patronus. 

She found it the most difficult spell to cast. It was frustrating her deeply, but the never ending support from her boyfriend almost always helped.

"Hey, you can do this. It's some of the hardest defensive magic. You can't get discouraged. Remember, think of a happy memory." Neville encouraged, giving Thea a loving smile. "You can do it, love." 

Thea nodded, and gripped her wand tighter, thinking of a memory. The first thing she saw in her head was the day Neville had asked her to be his girlfriend. That was probably the happiest day of her life. 

Thea felt her cheeks turning red, and her eyes met Neville's. He tried to hide his smile, guessing her memory based on the reaction on her face. Thea rolled her eyes and concentrated. She swirled her wand confidently.

"Expecto Patronum!" she yelled, and nearly fell back from the force as a beautiful blue creature pounced out from the tip of her wand. 

She watched in excitement as the animal ran all across the room in the most graceful way. Neville crossed over and hugged Thea tightly, a look of pride spread across his face.

"It looks like an Irish Wolfhound!" he said excitedly, leaning down to kiss Thea's temple. She couldn't believe she had produced her very own Patronus with such ease. She leaned up on her tiptoes to whisper in Neville's ear.

"You were my happy memory." she said, quiet enough for only him to hear. Neville shook his head and smiled, looking down at Thea with nothing but love in his eyes. 

Thea leaned against his arm, her face hurting from smiling as she watched all the Patronuses gliding around the room, lighting up the walls and the faces of every student. 

It was a beautiful moment until it was abruptly interrupted by the sound of...hammering? Thea couldn't quite tell, but it was coming from the front of the room. 

Everyone backed up, fear rising in their eyes, as they watched a corner of a brick crumble to the ground. Harry crept towards it slowly, bending to peer through the hole. His body immediately straightened out and he turned, a look of terror on his face. 

He mouthed the name "Umbridge" and everyone's eyes went wide. 

Before they could comprehend what was happening, the whole wall came crashing in. Umbridge stepped forward, wand in hand, the annoying smile she always wore plastered on her ugly face. Behind her, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle stood smugly, Filch the caretaker beside them. 

They all peered in, wanting to get a glimpse of what was happening. 

The side escape door appeared, someone yelled "RUN!" and all hell broke loose. Thea felt Neville grab her hand and pull her as they ran, shoving themselves through the door, trying to get away. 

They broke free from the crowd and took off down an adjacent corridor, running for the stairs. Neville pushed Thea ahead of him and they ran, desperately trying to get away from Umbridge. 

Thea reached a staircase and started making her way up, Neville close behind. She was almost near the top, when the worst happened. 

She had stepped on a trick step and her ankle twisted. She felt a snap and cried out, her feet giving out underneath her.

"Oh my god, Thea!" she heard Neville yell. The sound in her ears was muffled as the pain in her ankle was the only thing she could think of. She was afraid to look, but she knew it was broken. Neville knelt down beside her, his face dripping in concern. 

Thea attempted to move her foot but cried out again, tears springing to her eyes. 

Neville's chest was heaving as he tried to think of what to do. They had no time for planning. "I'm so sorry. This is going to hurt." Neville placed his arms under Thea's body and attempted to pick her up. He was using every ounce of strength he had. 

Thea screamed, more tears falling, but she held onto him tightly as he carried them the rest of the way up the stairs. He sat her down at the top, breathing hard. From below, they could see Hermione running towards them.

"Neville, what happened?" she cried, her face scrunching up with worry looking at Thea's swollen ankle.

"Trick step. I think it broke." Neville said between breaths.

"We need to get her to the hospital wing." Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Come on, I'll help you." 

They leaned down and helped Thea up, one on either side, and walked as quickly as they could manage to the hospital wing, Thea getting dizzier and dizzier as the pain progressively got worse. 

The last thing she remembered seeing was Neville's concerned face before everything went black.

* * *

Thea awoke suddenly, her eyes opening to bright sunshine. She tried to get her bearings, feeling the bed around her, and finally realized she was in the hospital wing. 

She felt her right foot throbbing horribly, and looked down to see it was bandaged and elevated. The memories of the night before came flooding back, and she cringed. 

To her right, Neville was sitting on a chair, his head laying softly on the bed beside her legs. He had his Herbology textbook open on his lap. His breathing was slow and deep, so Thea assumed he was asleep. She smiled to herself. 

She tried to sit up, moving as slowly as she could to avoid waking Neville up, but she failed. He awoke with a start as well, his head snapping to look at her.

"What's wrong? Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" he said in a groggy voice. Thea giggled.

"No, love, I'm fine. Did you sleep here all night?" Neville nodded, wiping the sleep from his eyes and fixing his hair. He stood to kiss Thea on her forehead before sitting back down tiredly.

"You had passed out when we got here last night, so they couldn't give you any pain meds. How's your foot?" He looked over at her bandaged foot. Thea shrugged.

"It hurts a lot, but I'm okay." She attempted to smile at Neville, and reached for his hand. "Any word on what happened with Umbridge last night?" Neville shook his head, his concerned eyes looking up at Thea.

"All I know is she's taking everyone from the DA in for questioning today. Apparently Cho's friend Marietta spilled the beans to Umbridge." 

They sat in silence for a few moments trying to make sense of everything. Thea looked down at the book in Neville's lap.

"Why do you like Herbology so much?" she asked, turning on her side and laying her head down on her arm. "I don't know why I've never asked you before, but I've always been curious." 

Neville smiled down at her, picking up his book and flipping through it slowly.

"I don't really know. I've always loved plants, ever since I was a little boy. I love studying them, and they really calm me down and clear my head. I especially love plants with healing qualities." Thea smiled back at him. 

There was nothing she loved more in the world than listening to Neville talk about his passions.

"I love seeing you so happy." she said, reaching over to hold his hand. "You're so passionate and knowledgeable about it and it warms my heart so much." Neville blushed. 

He never took compliments well, but he secretly loved when Thea gushed over him. Their conversation was suddenly interrupted as Madam Pomfrey entered the room holding a cup with pills.

"Here you go, dear. These should help with the pain." Thea took them eagerly and swallowed them with the water on her nightstand. 

"Now, I would have spoken about your condition with you last night, but seeing as how you were...unaware, we had to wait until morning."

"My condition?" Thea asked, confused. Madam Pomfrey nodded.

"Your ankle has been severely broken. Unfortunately, with the type and placement of the break, the Brackium Emendo treatment will not help you. We must go about this the Muggle way. Medication, rest, elevation. It needs to heal on its own."

"What!? Are you kidding?" Thea asked incredulosly. "That could take ages!" She didn't want to have to practically live in the hospital wing. Neville squeezed her hand, comforting her.

"It won't be that bad, love. You get to lie down all the time and have me wait on you hand and foot." Neville's eyes widened as he realized what he said, but Thea couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, sounds like a plan then." Thea said, gushing over Neville's willingness to take care of her. Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat, distracting the lovebirds.

"You will, however, need to stay in the hospital wing for a week. I'll need to monitor you for any negative reactions towards the medication. Once you leave, you're going to need to stay off the foot as much as possible. Elevate it whenever you can and no weight bearing until after at least four weeks." 

Thea sighed but nodded. There was nothing she could do about this, so at least she got to relax more than normal. Madam Pomfrey turned to leave, and Neville took the opportunity to steal some kisses from Thea.

"I'm sorry this happened to you." he said apologetically. "But at least we get to spend some quality time together while I take care of you." Thea smiled and felt her heart skip a beat.

"I love you, you know that?" she said, looking up at him with doe eyes. Neville shrugged playfully and nodded. 

The week Thea spent in the hospital went by incredibly quickly. The only time Neville left her side was to shower or run to the Great Hall at each meal to bring plates up, where the two sat and ate together. 

Spending all this time together had been so great for their relationship. Getting to spend this time talking and getting to know each other on a deeper level was amazing. 

She was learning so many things about Neville, what he was passionate about, and what his favorite things were. 

Thea had never felt closer to Neville, and the more he took care of her, the more she fell in love with him. 

Her friends came to visit her every day as well, and Thea was so happy to see how much her friends truly cared about her. 

Eventually, she was moved out of the hospital wing and back into Gryffindor Tower. After being back in her own bed for a couple days, Thea felt relaxed, and was healing pretty well. 

She was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace one night when Neville approached her, looking nervous. 

He sat next to her, but left a wider space than usual between them. Thea scooted up on the couch so she faced him.

"Neville, what's wrong? Why do you look so worried?" She felt her heart rate quicken. The last time he looked this nervous was when the mass breakout from Azkaban had been written in the newspaper. He swallowed and spoke, avoiding looking at her.

"I, um...I have something to tell you." She eyed him suspiciously.

"What? Did something happen?"

"No. Well, maybe. Um. Okay, so..." He stuttered, clearly avoiding telling Thea whatever was happening. "So you know how Harry has been having those dream things?" Thea nodded slowly, not saying anything. Neville continued, shifting uncomfortably. 

"Well, he had a dream a few days ago about his godfather being held hostage in the Department of Mysteries by You-Know-Who, as well as something about a prophecy, and he needs to go and save him." Thea felt her blood turn cold in her body. This could not be good.

"Okay...what does this have to do with you?" Neville finally dared to look Thea in the eyes.

"We're going with him. Me, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna. We need to help him. And..well...this is where it gets hard. Last night Harry had a dream that Lucius Malfoy was there in that hallway." Thea felt her face twist in anger.

"What? Neville, no way! Do you know how dangerous that could end up being?" She nearly jumped off the couch, but remembered about her ankle at the last minute and hissed in pain. 

"What if you get hurt, or worse? It's too dangerous, Neville." Neville's face softened as he moved closer to Thea on the couch, taking her hands in his. He was silent for a few moments.

"He needs us, Thea. We're ready for whatever, that's what the DA was for. We've prepared ourselves for a moment exactly like this one. Fred and George will be here with you the whole time, I promise." 

Thea felt tears welling in her eyes. She couldn't believe they were doing this, and that she had no choice but to stay behind. Thea let her tears fall as she moved closer to Neville, laying her head on his shoulder.

"When do you leave?" she asked quietly.

"Tomorrow." he whispered in response.

* * *

After barely sleeping overnight, Thea awoke the next morning with a huge knot in her stomach. She didn't know what to expect of this Ministry trip, and her not even being able to go was making her feel worse. 

She was scared that something terrible was going to happen and she wouldn't be there to help her friends.

"We're about ready to go, Thee." Hermione said gently, putting on her shoes quickly and grabbing her wand. Thea didn't respond. She just nodded and slowly made her way to the common room. 

Neville was already there with Ron, Harry and Ginny. Luna was to meet them inside the main door. Thea looked over at Neville. He was wearing a blue and grey vest over a checkered shirt, looking absolutely adorable.

"We've got to go Thea, I'm sorry." Harry said, making his way over to the portrait door. Thea hugged all her friends and watched Hermione, Ginny, and Ron follow Harry, but Neville stayed put.

"You guys go on ahead," he said, keeping his eyes on Thea, "I'll meet you down there in a minute." 

As soon as they were all out of sight Thea let her tears fall once again, and Neville crossed the room to her and pulled her into his arms. 

She cried into his chest for a moment, feeling him leave kisses all over the top of her head.

"Please, Neville. Be careful. Please." she begged, pulling away to look in his eyes. They were red, also threatening to drop tears. He nodded and pulled her back into his arms.

"I will. I promise. I love you so much, Theadora. I will see you when I get back. I promise." Thea sniffed and nodded, forcing herself to let him go and be strong. 

He needed to go, and she loved that he was brave enough to go with Harry, but she couldn't bear to see him get hurt.

"Good luck, Neville. I love you. Now go, everyone's waiting for you." she said as she forced a smile. He nodded and gave her one last kiss before turning and making his way to the portrait. 

He turned one more time and blew Thea a kiss, before stepping through the portrait and disappearing. 

Thea wrapped her arms around herself tightly as she let herself cry once more in the silence of the common room. 

The day could not have dragged on any slower than it did. Fred and George stayed with Thea the entire day, which she appreciated greatly. 

Thea had forced them to sit in the Great Hall instead of Gryffindor Tower so she could check the front courtyard every five minutes to see if her friends had returned.

"Thea, I don't think they're going to be back anytime soon." George said, trying to get Thea to sit down. She had completely forgotten about her broken ankle with how much she had been pacing all day. She felt as if she could throw up at any moment. 

She had hardly eaten and had drank no water at all, and it was now after 8 o'clock. She was dizzy and her stomach was turning, but she needed to be there when they returned. She needed to see Neville as soon as he got back. Fred nodded, agreeing with his twin.

"Yeah, come on, Thee. You need to at least sit down. You're going to injure yourself more, you know you need to keep off of your ankle."

"I don't care." she snapped. Fred raised his eyebrows in surprise, as if she had slapped him in the face. Thea's eyes widened. 

"Oh my god. Fred, I'm so sorry. I didn't even mean to say it like that." The corner of Fred's mouth pulled up into a weak smile.

"Don't worry, Thea. Honestly. We're all stressed right now. It's okay." Thea gave him an apologetic look and sat down. 

She tried to take a bite of the dinner roll she had saved when her stomach growled menacingly. It just made her feel more sick, but she forced herself to eat the whole thing. Her eyes felt droopy and her body threatened to give out. George looked over at her with a worried look on his face.

"Thea, why don't you put your head down for a minute? Take a rest, you look like you're going to pass out. It's okay if you sleep for a bit. We'll wake you when we hear something, I promise." 

Thea hesitated, but nodded. She put her head down on her arms as they rested on the table and closed her eyes. 

It felt like barely a minute had passed when she felt someone shaking her awake.

"Thea, get up!" yelled Fred's voice. "They're here. You've got to get up." Thea's eyes flew open and she jumped up at the sound of the main Hogwarts door closing. 

She pulled herself away from the table and ran out into the hallway, and her stomach dropped. 

All her friends and her boyfriend had made it back, but they looked like they had been through hell. Their clothes were dirty, they had wounds all over them, and they all looked like they had seen the Devil himself. 

Thea limped over as quickly as her injury would take her. Neville pushed through his friends and ran to her, wrapping his arms protectively around her.

"I'm so sorry, my love. I'm here." she said, feeling him shaking with tears in her arms. Thea felt a rush of gratitude sweep over her as she watched every single one of her friends walk through the doors alive. 

She looked at all of their faces to see they were crying too. Except for Harry. He was emotionless, staring into nothingness as Fred and George greeted everyone.

"I saw him, Thea. You-Know-Who." Neville said, his voice racked with fear. Thea's eyes widened with shock. "He was there. He and Harry fought before Dumbledore showed up and saved him. Bellatrix was there too. She held me in her arms, Thea. My head and my arms were in her hands. She killed Harry's godfather right in front of us." 

Thea covered her mouth in shock, trying not to scream out. Fred and George led the group into the Great Hall, trying to warm them up and get them something to eat. Thea and Neville stayed where they were.

"Neville, it's okay. You're safe now. I've got you now." He pulled himself out of her arms and brought his lips to hers, kissing her passionately. Thea could feel all the love and fear Neville was holding onto through his kiss. She pulled away to look in his eyes. 

"Promise me you're never going to do anything stupid like that again. Please." He nodded, pulling her back into a warm hug.

"I promise."


	14. The Beginning of the End

Seventh Year. The year of N.E.W.Ts, graduation, and coming-of-age wizards. That's how the final year at Hogwarts would normally go. But this year was no regular year. 

Thea, Neville, and their friends had spent their entire Sixth Year preparing for the worst, and now that Seventh Year was here, it was time for them to go.

"We need to assemble an emergency DA meeting. Now." Neville said hurriedly. They were a week into the semester, and Thea still hadn't seen Ron, Harry, or Hermione once. 

Thea had been sitting in the Great Hall during her free period, and Neville had caught her off guard with his intrusion. She looked up at him, worried.

"What? Neville, the DA hasn't been active for nearly two years..." He nodded and pulled her bag over his shoulder before grabbing her hand and pulling her up from the table.

"I know. Come with me." More confused than she'd ever been, Thea allowed him to whisk her away from the Great Hall. 

He began to explain as they made their way to the Room of Requirement. "We need to do something about Snape." he said in a low voice. Thea's brows furrowed deeper in confusion. "Do you still have your chip?" Thea nodded, reaching into the inside pocket of her robes. 

Back in Fifth Year when the DA first started, the students all needed a way to arrange meetings and communicate without Umbridge hearing. Hermione had managed to conjure up a fake Galleon coin, and placed the Protean Charm on it. Anytime they needed to set up a meeting day and time, the Protean Charm would change the numbers around the edge of the coin to notify everyone, and it would heat up when a time was set. It was a completely foolproof plan.

"Here. What do you want me to send out?"

"DA meeting. Today. Right now." Thea nodded and sent out the message, praying that it would reach everyone it needed to reach. 

Her and Neville opened up the Room of Requirement in silence, and waited for everyone to arrive. 

One by one, the DA members filed into the secret room, each as confused as the last. Cho Chang, Seamus Finnegan, Dean Thomas, Luna Lovegood and Ginny Weasley, among others, stood waiting for Neville's explanation of what exactly was going on.

"Alright, out with it Longbottom, what's going on here?" Seamus stepped forward from the crowd, crossing his arms over his chest. Neville held his hand in front of him, as if to say "Relax", and cleared his throat.

"I've called you all here because something needs to be done about Snape." Seamus chuckled loudly.

"Oh yeah, and what about him? You think we can get him sacked or something?"

"No, Seamus, I don't." Neville replied, slightly agitated. "I think we should reinstate Dumbledore's Army. We don't know what Snape is capable of as Headmaster, and we need to be prepared. Plus, You-Know-Who is back and you never know what he might try and do. Especially now with his Death Eaters patrolling the school." 

Neville watched as everyone slowly looked around at each other, trying to decide whether or not they wanted to agree. Thea grabbed his hand and pulled him aside.

"Neville, do you really think this is a good idea?" she asked. Neville nodded and squeezed her hand.

"Yeah, I do. We've got to do something. We should start here." He turned back to quiet the group and address them once again. 

"So, what do you guys think?" There was silence for a moment before Ginny and Luna stepped forward.

"We're in." Ginny said confidently. Luna nodded beside her. Slowly, one at a time the members of the DA came forward in agreement, and soon everyone was up and ready to get started. Neville nodded in acceptance.

"Alright, let's get started."

* * *

Over the next couple of weeks, the DA meetings had returned in full force. They were no longer learning new spells, but every student was working hard to perfect their skills. 

At each meeting, Neville would go around and help everybody out, whether it was by giving them motivation or fixing the positioning of their wand. 

Soon enough, everyone was going to him for advice or to ask a question the way they had gone to Harry. He was really stepping it up, and this was not going unnoticed. 

Neville's leadership skills were something Thea was completely blown away by. She never could have imagined that the shy little boy she met seven years ago would be in the position he was in today. 

Watching him teach and lead with such confidence was warming Thea's heart, not to mention blowing her attraction for him through the roof. 

He had matured so much in the last year, physically and emotionally, and Thea found herself nearly drooling over him at times. 

Especially in those moments when he was being a leader. She couldn't help but gush over him when they were alone.

"There's no DA meeting today because everyone could use a bit of a break, so we're having one tomorrow instead." Neville said one night as he settled into the couch cushions. 

It was late on a Wednesday night and Thea had spent the whole afternoon working on a Defence Against the Dark Arts essay. She had been working all day and needed a break, so she decided to relax in front of the fireplace. 

As Neville sat down he took her in his arms, pulling her close and kissing the top of Thea's head. "I also just needed some time with you. I feel like it's been ages since we spent time together, just us two." Thea smiled and felt her heart skip. 

Even after nearly three years of dating, he made her just as nervous and excited as he had that first day they got together. 

With every day that passed, she felt more loved by him than ever, and she did everything she could to make him feel the same. 

She sat up and leaned against the back of the couch so she could look at him. He was wearing an eggplant-purple sweater, which complemented his eyes stunningly. 

Thea admired him, watching him get all nervous as she looked at him. 

"Can I help you?" he asked playfully, running his fingers gently up and down Thea's hand. She had her other hand propping her head up on the top of the couch.

"No. I just like the view." He rolled his eyes, but couldn't help the smile from forming. "You know, watching you be such a great leader these past few weeks, it's been pretty nice. You're very sexy when you lead, did you know that?" 

Neville's face flushed and he pushed her propped arm playfully, causing Thea's head to fall to the side.

"Shut up." he said, reaching to pull her back under his arm. She tilted her head up and kissed him, her arm snaking around his side. 

He broke their lips apart after some time but kept his eyes attached to hers. He searched them, as if looking for some sort of answer.

"What are you thinking about?" Thea asked gently, reaching up to touch his cheek. Neville sighed deeply, looking from her eyes, to her lips, and back.

"Just that we're going to be okay. I promise."

* * *

The months leading up to the end of Seventh Year were as bad as they could have possibly been. The students had been dealing with the Death Eaters in the school for quite some time. 

Alecto and Amycus Carrow were the brother and sister Death Eater duo who had taken over some of the teaching posts at Hogwarts. 

Alecto taught Muggle Studies and Amycus taught Defence Against the Dark Arts. Except Alecto had turned the Muggle Studies class into an arena for disrespecting and disregarding Muggles and Half-Bloods. 

During one of their lectures, Alecto had been going on about how Muggles were like dirty and disgusting animals, and that it was their fault that wizards were violent towards them. 

Neville had decided to be "brave" by asking Alecto how much Muggle blood she had, resulting in her slashing him across the face. 

These physical punishments did not stop there. The DA had been back in action for a while, but had to be put to an end after the torture of an innocent Hogwarts student. 

Michael Corner was tortured by the Carrows themselves just for trying to release a first year that was being imprisoned in the school. 

It was horrifying, and the Carrows were doing everything in their power to destroy students. 

Thea, Neville, and the DA had been forced to endure months of this cruelty on their own. Until May, when word had been going around that Harry Potter had been spotted in Hogsmeade.

"Are you ready?" Thea asked Neville, handing him his wand. The two had been in the Room of Requirement working when the portrait of Ariana Dumbledore appeared to alert them of Harry's presence. 

Neville and Thea knew they had to go pick him up, alert the DA, and reunite everyone. Thea quickly sent out the message through the Galleon and followed Neville into the secret passageway.

"Lumos." Neville said, Thea following suit, and he grabbed her hand and led her down the dark passageway. They walked for a while in the semi-darkness until they reached the other entrance and pushed the door open. 

Thea felt nothing but love, and a little bit of relief, as her and Neville greeted Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Hog's Head. She hugged the three of them tightly before they turned to head back.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, following slightly behind Thea and Neville.

"Yeah, I'm confused." was Ron's reply. "I don't remember seeing this on the Marauder's Map."

"Passage to the Room of Requirement." Neville responded. "This is the only way in or out of the castle. Every other secret passageway has been sealed off."

"Death Eaters and Dementors are everywhere." Thea said gently. "Ever since Snape became Headmaster, he's given them positions here at the school. The worst are the Carrows, watch out for them. Brother and sister duo in charge of discipline."

"They love punishment." Neville said, pointing to the bruises on his face. Thea felt her heart constrict. She was still so angry over that horrid incident.

"Why would they do that to you?" Hermione asked worriedly. Neville chuckled, a hint of annoyance present at the memory.

"Today's Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson forced us to practice the Cruciatus Curse on First Years." The trio's eyes widened with shock. "I refused, obviously, so now I've got these pleasant reminders." Thea squeezed his hand lovingly. 

The group continued their journey down the passageway in silence, no one knowing what to say after Neville's confession. They finally reached the portrait entrance and Neville opened the door. 

The entire DA was there, engaging in light conversation as they waited. There were hammocks strung all along the walls, and some areas with pillows and tables for everyone to sit. 

"Hey, I've brought you all a surprise." Neville said as he stepped down, reaching up to help Thea down as well. Everyone got up and made their way over.

"I hope it's not more of Aberforth's cooking..." Seamus joked. Neville laughed and stepped aside, allowing Harry, Ron, and Hermione to step down and into the room. 

There was a round of shocked gasps before Seamus stood and clapped, and soon the whole DA had gotten up and joined him. 

Thea clapped along, her head resting against Neville's arm. The trio went around and hugged everyone, happy to be back within the safety of Hogwarts. Thea felt Neville's arm move as he lifted it to call over one of the younger members.

"Tell Remus and the others that Harry's back. Have them come over straight away." she heard him say. The kid nodded and turned, walking away with purpose. 

Neville looked down at Thea and winked, before leaving a kiss on the top of her head. Thea smiled and turned to the group.

"Come on, Harry. Tell us something." she said, raising her eyebrows in encouragement. Harry turned to the group nervously. He began speaking about something hidden in the castle that they needed to find to destroy You-Know-Who. 

The only thing he or Ron knew about it was that it had something to do with Ravenclaw.

"You mean Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem?" came Luna's quiet, calm voice. Everyone turned to look at her. 

She looked around, clearly expecting everyone to know what she was talking about. "Hasn't anyone heard of it?" she asked sadly. 

Cho Chang smiled at her weakly. She knew what Luna was talking about, but said that no one alive at the present time would know where it was. 

The group looked around, trying to figure out something they could do. A noise at the back of the room suddenly drew everyone's attention. 

Ginny appeared out of nowhere, shock on her face as she saw the trio for the first time in months.

"Snape knows Harry was in Hogsmeade." she said, never taking her eyes off Harry. Thea exchanged a look of worry with Neville.

"Okay then." Harry said, more to the ground than anyone. He looked up, trying to seem confident. "We need to start looking. And Snape and the Carrows can't know I'm here."


	15. Battle Until the End

May 2nd, 1998. The day Thea and her friends believed Harry Potter to be dead. No one had anticipated this would happen. 

The day before, Thea, Neville, the Golden Trio, and the DA spent all waking hours looking for the diadem, nerves and fear reaching an all-time high as it was announced that Voldemort was coming to Hogwarts. 

He was after Harry. And he wanted him dead. 

As the early hours of May 2nd rolled on, an announcement requesting Harry to meet Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest had completely shaken the students and teachers of Hogwarts. 

The Battle of Hogwarts had already begun, as Death Eaters tried to enter the grounds. 

Curses were being thrown left and right, and the sound of explosions threatened the castle. All around, the students could see nothing but disaster for miles. 

The Quidditch arena had been burned down, and the fires threatened other parts of the castle as well. 

Thea and Neville led the DA around the school through the courtyard, trailing Professor McGonagall, who was busy throwing out protection charms.

"Professor, are you really letting us do this?" Neville asked, nearly jogging to keep up with her. "Are you really letting us fight?" McGonagall stopped and turned towards the group, complete fear in her eyes.

"Yes. We need as many people as we can." Neville nodded and turned to the DA. He gestured towards his left and they began to follow him towards the main Hogwarts bridge. 

They walked to the end, trying to devise a plan together, when Neville stopped in his tracks. He put a hand out to keep everyone behind him, Thea included, and slowly stepped forwards to the edge of the bridge. 

Below him, a group of hundreds of Death Eaters stood trying to break through the protective curses. The more they ran towards the barriers, the farther back they were thrown. Neville laughed down at them mockingly.

"Neville, shut up!" Thea warned, her heart hammering in her chest. Neville shook her words off him, continuing to taunt the crowd. 

One of the Death Eaters looked up towards him and smirked, taking a step forward. He had caught some sort of flame on his wand that allowed him to break through the protection. 

Neville stepped backwards slowly, never taking his eyes off the man below him. The man screamed, and he and his army lurched forwards. Neville turned around, his eyes filled with fear.

"RUN!" he screamed, and everyone turned and fled in front of him. Thea reached for his hand as she tried to run. The Death Eaters had made it onto the bridge and were closing in on the group. 

Thea felt Neville's fingertips brush hers, but he wasn't able to grab on. He threw a curse behind him, and the entire bridge caught fire. 

Thea screamed as she looked back, but kept running. She heard the bridge crash down and she forced her legs to halt, turning to look with fear. Neville was gone. Thea screamed, her legs nearly going numb. 

The entire DA had turned back and was with her. As all the Death Eaters fell, silence erupted around them.

"Neville!" she screamed, tears spilling over her eyes. Her heart stopped. She couldn't breathe. She screamed along with the DA as a pair of hands came up over the burnt bridge, and Neville's face was twisted in pain as he pushed himself up onto the deck. 

More tears spilled over Thea's eyes as she ran to help him over. 

He sat up, trying to catch his breath, as Thea wrapped her arms around him protectively. "Thank God. Don't ever do that again." She cried, holding him tightly. 

They stayed wrapped together for a few moments before they realized they needed to go. Thea helped Neville up and they took off with the DA. 

They continued to fight over the next few hours, throwing curses and protections as they battled the Death Eaters. Somehow, Thea and Neville had gotten separated, and she couldn't ignore the knot in her stomach as she worried over him. 

After a while, it had quieted down, and a crowd had gathered in the courtyard to watch as the Dark Lord himself made his way to the school, his Death Eaters following suit. 

Hagrid stood near the front carrying...Harry Potter's body. Voldemort raised his arms to make his announcement.

"Harry Potter is dead!" he cried out happily. From in front of her, Ginny's blood-curdling scream gave Thea chills. 

This couldn't be. Not Harry. There was no way. An air of grief fell over the crowd as the realization hit every student and professor. 

Thea listened to Voldemort make his speech about taking over, fearing that if she moved or breathed, she would vomit. 

The crowd gasped as they watched Draco step forward from the crowd. Voldemort had asked for anyone who wanted to join them to step forward, and Draco Malfoy was the first to go, his parents begging him to go. 

He walked across the destroyed courtyard to his parents with cowardice, a look of pure shame on his face. Thea cursed silently at him. 

A gasp from the other side of the crowd drew Thea's attention back to the middle. 

Neville was stepping forward, an emotionless look on his face. Thea's legs nearly gave out underneath her.

"N-no. NO!" she screamed, trying to run forward. Her legs felt like stone and like jelly all at the same time. Someone from behind her grabbed her arms and held her back as she screamed until her throat was raw. What the hell was he doing? 

Thea couldn't help the sobs from leaving her mouth as she watched Voldemort laugh over her dearest Neville Longbottom. Neville ignored him, opening his mouth to speak.

"It doesn't matter that Harry's gone." he said quietly. Thea's head swam with confusion, anger, and fear. She had no idea what he was doing and she was absolutely terrified. She wanted to run to him, but she was still being held back. 

Neville continued speaking about Harry. He spoke about how he would always be with his friends and his family, no matter what, and that the people who died would not die in vain. 

Thea couldn't focus on his speech, but nearly lost her breath as Neville drew the Sword of Godric Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat she hadn't realized he had been holding. 

At that same moment, Harry's body dropped to the ground from Hagrid's arms and he stood, much to the shock of everyone around him, including Voldemort. 

Thea, Ginny, and Hermione all screamed in confusion and shock. Harry picked up his wand and threw some curses at the Death Eaters before turning to run away. Voldemort followed, trying to throw even worse curses at Harry. 

The crowd began to act, running around and fighting their way along as well. Thea was no longer being held back, and tried to run over to Neville. 

She screamed as Voldemort threw a curse at him, throwing him backwards into the Great Hall.

"Thea, get inside! Now!" she heard Neville yell. She looked at him. Watched him as his eyes never left Voldemort's. Neville lifted the sword and pounced forwards.

* * *

Everything was suddenly a blur. Somehow, Harry and Voldemort were duelling once again, their wands tethered by an immaculate display of light and color. 

Thea, along with everyone around her, could do nothing but watch the spectacle from afar. 

There was a scream from behind them, and everyone turned to see Neville standing above the pile of ash that was Nagini, Voldemort's snake. He had cut through her with the Sword of Gryffindor. Thea felt a wave of nausea rip through her body at the sound of Voldemort's own scream. 

His wand flew from his hands and the tether to Harry's wand was broken as he was propelled backwards. He fell to the ground, screaming mercilessly, before he crumpled to the ground and withered away into nothing. Piece by piece, his body rose to the sky and evaporated. 

No one said anything or moved for quite some time. Thea's eyes were locked heavily on Neville, watching him panting as he held the sword by his side. 

The silence was broken by the sound of cheering, and then it was chaos. Thea gripped her wand tightly as she was pushed every which way by witches and wizards celebrating. 

She was thrown left and right until she managed to get out of the biggest part of the crowd, coughing from the smoke and dust rising from the sudden movements. 

She looked around, terrified, but couldn't find Neville. She had lost sight of him. 

Thea's legs could barely carry her weight as she took a few steps gingerly. She then took off at a run, trying to find her boyfriend. 

She searched through the crowd relentlessly, unsuccessful with every turn she took. She managed to work her way through the crowd to the entrance of the Great Hall, when her eyes landed on him. 

Neville stood off to the corner, talking to his friends happily. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat on the bench behind him, admiring the sword. 

Neville looked as if he was searching desperately, and he turned towards Thea at exactly the right moment and their eyes met. He smiled, relieved, and Thea's feet picked up on their own and ran towards him. 

She felt angry, scared, happy, and disappointed all at once. Neville held his arms out, as if to hug her, but Thea had other plans. 

She placed her palms flat on his chest and shoved him, the force pushing him back into Hermione. Thea's eyes spilled more tears.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Thea screamed, her throat still raw from earlier. Neville looked back at her, his eyes a mixture of fear and confusion.

"Babe, I-"

"He could have KILLED you!" Thea screamed, pushing him again. "Why the hell would you step forward like that?" She brought her arms down to her side, chest heaving, as she watched her words register in Neville's brain. 

She lifted her arms to push him again but he caught them, pulling her in for a hug instead. Neville wrapped his arms tightly around her and she finally broke, sobbing into his chest and gripping his sweater tightly. 

Neville kissed the top of her head over and over, pulling his arms as tightly around her as he possibly could.

"I'm sorry." he said, so quietly that even Thea could barely hear him. "I'm so sorry." Ron, Hermione, and Harry took it upon themselves to walk away, trying to give them a bit of privacy. 

Thea pulled back, her face stained with tears, and looked up into Neville's eyes. He had been crying as well.

"You p-promised me you w-wouldn't do anything stupid ag-again." Thea said, trying to speak through her sobs. Neville looked at her sympathetically.

"I know. I'm sorry. Look, let's go somewhere quiet to get cleaned up and talk." He took her hand and led her out of the Great Hall, trying to find some sort of privacy within the chaos. 

They found a second floor bathroom that had somehow managed to avoid being destroyed, and walked through the door, locking it behind them. 

Thea stood where she was and watched as Neville removed his sweatshirt, wanting to sit more comfortably in the blue collared shirt he wore underneath. 

Thea's eyes drifted over his torso, and she nearly cringed at the blood stains covering his shirt. She walked towards him as he sat down, and stood between his legs. She kept her hands at her sides, too afraid to touch him. 

He looked up at her and pushed a strand of her hair away from her face, and she felt her heart melt. 

She stepped away towards the sink and conjured up a pile of towels with her wand. She ran one under the water and brought it over to Neville, gently cleaning the gash on his forehead. He hissed at the pain, gripping Thea's wrist tightly.

"I nearly passed out when I saw you step forward earlier." she started, keeping her eyes trained on the towel. "I love when you're being brave, but you couldn't have possibly picked a worse time to have some courage." Neville chuckled, and Thea couldn't help but smile. 

She continued, moving to clean the gash on his cheek. "What would I have done if the person I love most in the whole world had gotten hurt, or killed? Neville, I wouldn't have survived. And like I said before, you promised me that you would never do anything stupid like that again after everything at the Ministry. I'm kind of mad at you." Thea said, faking anger and pouting her lip. 

She looked into his eyes now, and he looked back with more love than he ever had.

"I know. I truly meant that promise. You know I did. And I'm sorry. But I felt like I needed to say something and do something, and I'm glad I did." Thea smiled wider, feeling her heart skip a beat once again looking at Neville. 

She continued to clean his wounds and they kept talking, and Thea silently thanked God over and over that he was okay. 

She was amazed at how much Neville had changed her life in the seven years they'd known each other. 

She thought back to all those years ago when she first met him on the Hogwarts Express. In such a short amount of time, he had gone from the quiet boy who allowed everyone to walk all over him to the man who stood up to fight against the darkest wizard in the world. 

Thea could not believe how much he had changed in these seven years. And she was so damn grateful that he had.


	16. Epilogue

**10 Years Later

Thea stepped through the glass door of the greenhouse, the earthy smell of the plants hitting her nostrils and filling her lungs. 

It was late on a Thursday night, and Neville had been caught up at the school grading papers and assignments. 

As she walked over to the front table, take-out bag in hand, she couldn't help but admire Neville. He was writing with a quill, but had a Muggle pen tucked behind his ear. 

The day-old stubble growing on his face made him look more handsome and rugged than ever. A mess of parchment was strewn left and right across the table in front of him, and a radio sitting on the end corner of the table played a classic rock song softly. 

He looked up at her and smiled, scratching his face with his hand. His golden wedding band glinted in the candlelight, and Thea's heart raced. 

She still couldn't believe that he was her husband. She never understood how she could have gotten so lucky.

"Hey, what are you doing here? It's late." Neville said, standing up to kiss her. She shrugged and kissed him back, never wanting to leave his lips.

"I knew you would be here working, and I knew that you would probably forget to eat, so I thought I would bring you some dinner." Neville smiled widely and grabbed a second stool from the storage bin, placing it right next to his at the table. 

They sat down and ate together, Thea laughing from the stories he told her about the first-year class he taught that day. 

"It's been a while since I've been in here." Thea said softly, looking at all the gorgeous plants surrounding her. 

Neville had already been teaching Herbology for a couple years now, but with how busy Thea's job was at the Ministry, she never had enough time to come back and see her old school. 

Neville admired her as she looked around, a twinkle in his eye.

"Remember back in fifth year when I told you about Bellatrix and my parents and everything?" he asked, reaching over to take Thea's hand in his. She nodded, her heart tightening. 

She remembered how awful those days were for him, and she hoped she would never have to see him in that kind of pain again. 

Neville looked from Thea's eyes, to around the room, before settling back on her face. "That day when you found me in here, when we danced. That's when I knew I was going to marry you." Thea's heart nearly stopped.

"Why?" she asked, curious as ever. He smiled softly.

"Well, I felt like I could marry you the day I asked you to be my girlfriend. I was so in love with you from day one. And to be honest, I was scared that you would break up with me after I told you about my parents. I was scared that maybe I was too damaged for you. But you never left my side through any of it, and even though I already knew it, it just proved to me that you truly loved me. And then when you found me in here that day, it confirmed everything. The fact that you knew I was in here meant everything to me. Also, the fact that you never pressured me to talk to you about what I was feeling or anything was just..." 

He trailed off, looking down at their hands. Thea's engagement ring glistened beautifully above her wedding band. 

"I loved how you made me dance to make me feel better. It was something so simple, yet so meaningful, that I still treasure to this day. I knew right at that moment that I was going to marry you one day. And I would have, on the spot, right there." 

Thea wiped a tear from her eye and stood, moving to sit on his lap and wrap her arms around his neck.

"Firstly, you know I never would have left you for telling me about your parents. When I said yes to being your girlfriend, I said yes to accepting everything about you. Not that I didn't already, but you know what I mean. I was grateful that you told me about your life because it meant that you truly trusted me. And I'm glad you did marry me, because I was not planning on marrying anyone else after I fell in love with you." 

The two laughed, and Neville leaned his head down to kiss Thea passionately. As they kissed, the song changed, and a familiar melody of violins and piano danced through the room.

"Alright, did you do that on purpose?" Neville asked, cocking an eyebrow at Thea. She laughed loudly.

"No! I could ask you the same thing though!" What were the odds that the song they danced to that day would come on the radio the moment they talked about it? Neville shook his head in disbelief, but smiled.

"May I have this dance, Mrs. Longbottom?" He asked, making Thea blush scarlet. She stood and took his hand and led him to the center of the room, and they danced the way they had that night in the greenhouse. As Neville twirled and dipped Thea, she couldn't help but think of how perfect her life was. 

After everything they had gone through, they were still together. Still happy. Every day, Thea thanked her lucky stars that Neville was brought into her life. She was so thankful that she chose to befriend the shy, scared little boy on the train, because he ended up becoming the greatest love in her life.


End file.
